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(CNN) -- A fast-moving brush fire burning just south of Reno, Nevada, on Thursday prompted evacuations, closed a major highway and led the governor of Nevada to declare a state of emergency. The more than 3,000-acre fire began burning around 1 p.m. Thursday in North Washoe Valley, according to a press release from county officials. At least 10,000 people have been evacuated. There was no containment on the blaze, said Nancy Leuenhagen, Washoe County press Iinformation officer. Video from CNN Reno affiliate KOLO showed dark smoke plumes, fueled by heavy wind and dry vegetation, pushing toward U.S. Highway 395. A 12-mile stretch of the highway remained closed late Thursday, according to Dan Lopez of the Nevada Highway Patrol. Several flights at the Reno airport have been canceled or diverted, CNN affiliate KTVN reported. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been and are being affected by this fire," Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said in a statement. "Declaring a state of emergency ensures that every resource from the local, state and federal level is available to assist." The Nevada Division of Forestry and the Department of Public Safety were aiding local firefighters and emergency personnel, Sandoval said. The National Guard was on standby and the state of California was also providing assistance, according to the governor's website. About 12 families displaced by the fire were receiving assistance at an evacuation shelter at a local high school, said Karli Epstien, Red Cross press information officer. CNN's Nigel Walwyn and Leslie Tripp contributed to this report.

Fire affects 3,000 acres in North Washoe Valley . At least 10,000 people have been evacuated, officials say . There has been no containment of the fire, official says .

(CNN) -- A federal agency is examining what caused the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility to collapse on Saturday, paralyzing a scout and injuring 11 others. An aerial view of the scene shows the Dallas Cowboys logo amid the ruins of the indoor practice facility. "We're trying to determine if there were any violations, or determine the cause," said Elizabeth Todd, spokeswoman for Region 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA investigators will be interviewing witnesses and looking for identifiable hazards, she said. The procedure is routine and implies no wrongdoing, Todd said. OSHA has six months to finish its investigation. Meanwhile, the CEO of a company that makes similar buildings says he believes fewer people would have been injured if the Cowboys' facility had been supported by air rather than a metal frame. About 70 people -- including players, coaches, staff and media -- were inside the metal-framed structure for a rookie mini-camp practice when a line of heavy thunderstorms hit the dome. Video from the incident shows the lights swinging violently from the dome's ceiling seconds before the ceiling crashes to the ground. Players and coaches rushed to help those trapped. "It was as if someone took a stick pin and hit a balloon," said photographer Arnold Payne, who was shooting the practice for CNN affiliate WFAA-TV. Watch Payne describe being inside when structure collapsed » Scouting assistant Rich Behm, 33, suffered a severed spinal cord and is paralyzed from the waist down, the team said. He underwent surgery Saturday. "Rich is a courageous member of our family and someone for whom we care deeply. We ask for all friends and fans of the Dallas Cowboys to join us in embracing him and his family with their thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time," team owner Jerry Jones said. Watch the roof collapse on players, coaches » Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis fractured a cervical vertebra, and assistant trainer Greg Gaither had two broken bones in his leg, the team said. Gaither had successful surgery Saturday, and DeCamillis was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday, the team said. According to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, "a microburst impacted the Valley Ranch area," where the Cowboys practice. A microburst is a "small, intense downdraft which results in a localized area of strong thunderstorm winds," the weather service said. Though winds near the ground were estimated near 70 mph, winds are generally more fierce farther from the ground, and microbursts can have winds in excess of 100 mph, the weather service said. "Therefore, it is quite possible that winds greater than 70 mph affected the upper portions of the damaged structures," the service said. The Cowboys' attorney, Levi McCathern II, was in meetings at Valley Ranch on Monday morning and could not be immediately reached. Elizabeth Criswell, a paralegal with his firm, said OSHA's involvement was standard procedure and that the Cowboys would issue a press release at a later time. Summit Structures of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Cover-All Building Systems of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which built the dome, referred all questions to a Boston, Massachusetts, public relations firm. The firm released a statement from Nathan Stobbe, Summit's president, who said he was in Texas working with officials to "assess this severe weather event." The statement quoted the National Weather Service description of a microburst. It further said the facility was constructed in 2003. A new roof was installed on the building during a 2008 upgrade, the statement said. "We understand there is a great deal of concern and curiosity about what happened on Saturday, but rather than speculate, we are focused on being part of the effort to find answers and assist the team," Stobbe's statement concluded. Mariellen Burns of Regan Communications in Boston did not immediately respond to a follow-up e-mail inquiring what wind speeds the building was engineered to sustain. At least three of Summit's competitors say their buildings can withstand winds of 140 mph or higher.

NEW: Cowboys' attorney's office says OSHA involvement standard procedure . Facility's manufacturers point to weather reports of a "microburst" in statement . Competitor says there might have been fewer injuries in an air-supported dome . Special teams coach scheduled to undergo surgery for fractured spine Monday .

(CNN) -- A federal grand jury indicted a man arrested last week in connection with a mysterious case of exposure to the deadly biological agent ricin, prosecutors said. Authorities found ricin, weapons and an anarchist manual in Roger Von Bergendorff's Nevada hotel room. Roger Von Bergendorff, 57, was indicted on charges of possession of a biological toxin, possession of unregistered firearms and possession of firearms not identified by serial number, said Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bergendorff was hospitalized for two months with suspected ricin poisoning, and was discharged before his arrest. His initial court appearance was last week, Collins said, and he did not enter a plea. An arraignment is scheduled for May 2. Bergendorff was hospitalized in February complaining of breathing difficulties. Two weeks later, Thomas Tholen, a cousin who went to Bergendorff's Las Vegas hotel room to recover his belongings, discovered what turned out to be ricin. Authorities also said a search of the room found four guns, the book "Anarchist's Cookbook," a collection of instructions on poisons and other dangerous recipes and castor beans, syringes and beakers. Ricin is extracted from ground-up castor beans. Tholen was charged earlier in April with failing to report the commission of a crime. A federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly concealing the knowledge that production and possession of a biological agent -- a felony -- was being committed. Bergendorff previously lived in Tholen's home in Riverton, Utah, just south of Salt Lake City. After the ricin was discovered, the FBI searched that home as well as storage units Bergendorff used in Utah. Authorities said FBI agents searching the storage units found castor beans, chemicals used in the production of ricin, a respirator, filters, laboratory glassware, syringes and a notebook on ricin production. If convicted as charged, Bergendorff would face a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. E-mail to a friend

Roger Von Bergendorff indicted on ricin possession charges . Bergendorff had been hospitalized with suspected ricin poisoning . Authorities found ricin, guns in Bergendorff's Nevada hotel room . Thomas Tholen, Bergendorff's cousin, also faces charges .

(CNN) -- A federal immigration board rejected an emergency appeal Friday for a stay of deportation filed by the lawyer for Nazi war crimes suspect John Demjanjuk. John Demjanjuk, shown at his 1993 Israel acquittal, is sought by Germany for alleged killings at a Nazi camp. The decision by the Department of Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, clears the way for Demjanjuk's deportation to Germany, where he is being sought for his alleged involvement during World War II in killings at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland. The deportation of Demjanjuk would close a chapter in one of the longest-running pursuits of an alleged Holocaust perpetrator in history, while also paving the way for an extraordinary German war crimes trial. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are now free to pick up Demjanjuk at any point and take him into custody for transport to Germany, a board official said. The appeals board rejected Demjanjuk's emergency stay request because it concluded "there is little likelihood of success that his pending motion to re-open the case will be granted," according to board officials. The pending motion argues that a deportation of Demjanjuk, 89, to Germany would constitute torture. "In the four years since his deportation was [initially] ordered, his health has seriously deteriorated," Demjanjuk's attorney, John Broadley, told CNN in a recent telephone interview. Broadley said Demjanjuk suffers from pre-leukemia, kidney problems, spinal problems and "a couple of types of gout." The board, however, has already signaled that argument will be rejected. Demjanjuk may make an additional expedited appeal for an emergency stay to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, though his chances of getting the board's ruling overturned are believed to be slim, according to Justice Department officials. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center found irony in Broadley's argument for his client. "He wants to plead the sense of fairness that he regularly denied all of the victims at Sobibor," Hier said. Hier called Demjanjuk's comparison of his planned deportation to torture "preposterous coming from a person that served the [Nazi organization] S.S. in a death camp. It is a preposterous argument and insulting to the survivors of the Holocaust." Hier said that 250,000 Jews were killed at the camp, and that none of the guards who worked there was blameless. "You were there for one job: kill the Jews," he said. "And that's what they did full-time." He called the evidence against Demjanjuk "overwhelming." German authorities issued an arrest warrant for Demjanjuk on March 10, accusing him of being an accessory to 29,000 counts of murder as a guard at the death camp from March to September 1943. They studied an identification card provided by the U.S. Office of Special Investigations, and concluded it was genuine, before issuing the warrant. Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker living in Cleveland, Ohio, has been fighting charges of Nazi war crimes for more than two decades. He was previously extradited from the United States to Israel, where he was convicted in 1986 of being "Ivan the Terrible," a guard at the notorious Treblinka extermination camp. The conviction was overturned by Israeli courts on appeal, and he returned to the United States. The United States filed new charges against him in 1999, again alleging that he had been a concentration camp guard. He was stripped of U.S. citizenship and has been awaiting deportation since 2005, despite fighting his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian, says he fought in the Soviet army and later was a prisoner of war held by the Germans. CNN's Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk loses an appeal to avoid deportation . German authorities seek him for alleged involvement in Nazi camp killings . The retired autoworker denies all allegations . Demjanjuk, 89, lives with his wife in Cleveland, Ohio .

(CNN) -- A federal judge has stayed what would be the nation's first military execution since 1961, saying the U.S. soldier -- who was convicted of rape and murder two decades ago -- should have more time to pursue a federal appeal. Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. A court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, unanimously convicted him of committing two murders and other crimes in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area and sentenced him to death. Last month, the Army said Gray was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection December 10 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. But in an order issued November 26, U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers of Kansas said that a stay is necessary so Gray can pursue his federal appeal. Rogers ruled on a motion filed by Gray's attorneys, who asked for time to challenge the legality of his convictions and sentence. Government attorneys have asked Rogers to reconsider his decision, saying that Gray seeks a stay "apparently based on the premise that at some point he will identify a new legal issue or discover new evidence" upon which to appeal and that Gray "continues to delay unnecessarily." Gray has had ample time to appeal, the Justice Department attorneys said. In a response filed Tuesday, Gray's defense attorneys point out that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in March 2001, and "since then, it has taken the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Office of the President over seven years to approve as final Private Gray's sentence of death. The significant constitutional issues presented on the face of Private Gray's case ... have obviously troubled the decision-makers, as evidenced by the years they had his case under advisement." President Bush approved Gray's death sentence in July, making it final, defense attorneys write in the filing. Inmates sentenced to death in state and federal courts are given a year to file federal appeals after their death sentence becomes final, they claim, and members of the military under death sentences should receive the same consideration. "Private Gray is seeking federal habeas court review for the first time and he has not delayed commencing this action," defense attorney Thomas Bath wrote. "In fact, until the president approved his death sentence, there was no action available." Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg. He also was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at the post. Military and civilian courts both found Gray responsible for the crimes, which were committed between April 1986 and January 1987. Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in a civilian court and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms. The general court-martial at Fort Bragg then tried him and in April 1988 convicted him of two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes. Bush's July action, the Army said in a statement at the time, followed "completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death." Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed with presidential approval since 1951 under the Uniform Code of Military justice, the military's modern-day legal system. The Army has also sought Bush's authorization to execute another condemned soldier, Pvt. Dwight Loving, who was convicted of killing and robbing two cab drivers in 1988. The last U.S. military execution was in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. Bennett was sentenced in 1955. The U.S. military hasn't actively pursued an execution for a military prisoner since President Kennedy commuted a death sentence in 1962. Nine men are currently on military death row. CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report.

U.S. soldier should have more time to seek federal appeal, judge says . Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on death row for 20 years . He was convicted of two murders and other crimes in North Carolina . Gray had been scheduled for execution December 10 .

(CNN) -- A federal judge on Monday blocked implementation of a law that would have mandated tobacco companies include on cigarette packages graphic pictures and messages showing the dangers of smoking. "This case poses a constitutional challenge to a bold new tact (sic) by the Congress, and the FDA, in their obvious and continuing efforts to minimize, if not eradicate, tobacco use in the United States," concluded U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, who cited First Amendment rights against unconstitutionally compelled speech as a factor in his 29-page decision. "Notwithstanding the potential legal and financial ramifications of this challenge, the Government, for reasons known only to itself, is unwilling to voluntarily stay the effective date of this Rule until the Judicial Branch can appropriately review the constitutionality of the Government's novel -- and costly -- approach to regulating tobacco packaging and advertising. Thus, this Court must -- and will -- act to preserve the status quo until it can evaluate, on the merits (and without incurring irreparable harm to those companies genuinely affected), the constitutionality of the commercial speech that these graphic images compel," Leon wrote in his decision. Gallery: See the cigarette labels He said the tobacco companies had shown: a substantial likelihood of success; that allowing the labeling requirements to proceed would cause them to "suffer irreparable harm"; that "neither the Government, nor the public, will suffer any comparable injury as a result of the relief sought"; and that the public's "interest in the protection of its First Amendment rights against unconstitutionally compelled speech would be furthered." The 36 proposed images include a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat; diseased lungs next to healthy lungs; a mouth bearing what appear to be cancerous lesions; a bare-chested male cadaver with chest staples down his torso. Opinion: Can scary labels, taxes end smoking? Leon noted that the some of the pictures appeared to have been digitally enhanced or manipulated to make them "evoke emotion" and are not therefore "purely factual," as the government had asserted. Though Congress mandated the images fill the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages, Leon said the dimensions suggest it was trying to turn cigarettes into mini-billboards intended not to impart information about smoking but "to advocate a change in consumer behavior." In a statement, Matthew L. Myers, the president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the decision "wrong on the science and wrong on the law" and called for the Justice Department to appeal. "If allowed to stand, this ruling would make it impossible to implement any effective warning labels," he said, adding that Leon's ruling "ignores the overwhelming scientific evidence about the need for the new cigarette warnings and their effectiveness" and ignores First Amendment precedent that supports the right of the government to require warning labels to protect public health. Myers noted that studies have shown that such graphic warnings are effective at "informing consumers about the health risks of smoking, discouraging children and other nonsmokers from starting to smoke, and motivating smokers to quit." FDA reveals bigger, graphic warning labels for cigarette packages At least 43 other countries require such cigarette box warnings, he said. The law on the labels was to have kicked in beginning next September. "They serve the compelling goal of reducing the death and disease caused by tobacco use, which kills more than 400,000 Americans and costs the nation $96 billion in health care expenditures each year," Myers said. Richard Daynard, a professor at Northeastern University Law School and head of the Tobacco Products Liability Project, said the case may not be resolved for years, and the matter is an urgent one. "Even a relatively modest percentage improvement or a percentage reduction in initiation or continued use will potentially save tens of thousands of lives per year," he said.

Judge cites First Amendment rights against unconstitutionally compelled speech . Court acts "to preserve the status quo," he says . Case may not be resolved for years, expert says . More than 400,000 Americans die of tobacco-related disease each year .

(CNN) -- A female graduate student at Virginia Tech was killed Wednesday night when a man she knew attacked her with a knife and decapitated her, a school spokesman said. Virginia Tech police Chief Wendell Flinchum talks about the first slaying on campus since the 2007 shootings. Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski said Thursday that Xin Yang's killing was the first on the campus since April 16, 2007, when a shooter killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself. Yang, 22, from Beijing, China, was killed at the Au Bon Pain restaurant in the Graduate Life Center at around 7 p.m., school spokesman Larry Hincker said in a written statement. Campus police took Haiyang Zhu, 25, into custody at the scene. The Ningbo, China, native has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail at a local jail, Hincker said. Zhu did not say anything to the arresting officers, said campus police Chief Wendell Flinchum. "There was blood on him," Flinchum said. The young woman and the suspect "were not seen arguing, or anything of that nature," he added, citing witness statements. Authorities said the two students knew each other. "Based on emergency contact records maintained by the university, it is known that Zhu and Yang knew each other," Hincker said. No other details were provided. The young woman arrived at the university two weeks ago to begin studies in accounting, he said in the statement. Zhu is a graduate student pursuing a doctorate in agricultural and applied economics. He began studies at Virginia Tech in fall 2008, Hincker said. "Our hearts go out to the victim and her family," President Charles W. Steger said in a letter to the campus community. "An act of violence like this one brings back memories of the April 16 tragedy and I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught." Authorities say on April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and professors before killing himself.

Killing was first on campus since gunman killed 32 on April 16, 2007 . Victim Xin Yang, a graduate student from Beijing, knew accused killer, police say . Haiyang Zhu, 25, taken into custody; he is charged with first-degree murder . Attack took place at restaurant in Graduate Life Center .

(CNN) -- A ferry crammed with people capsized late Friday night in Bangladesh, killing at least 28 passengers, police said. The boat had a capacity of 1,500, but was overcrowded with about 2,000 people, said Nazrul Islam, the police chief of Bangladesh's southern Bhola district. They were traveling from the capital, Dhaka, to their homes in Bhola for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. The boat toppled as passengers weighted down one side to disembark, Islam said. The dead included eight women and 15 children. About 50 more people were injured. Police and firefighters rushed to aid passengers, many of whom were trapped in the lower deck. The number of people missing remained unclear and rescue teams feared the death toll would rise. CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.

Overcrowded ferry capsizes in Bangladesh, killing at least 28 people . Boat had capacity of 1,500, but was overcrowded with about 2,000 people . They were traveling from capital Dhaka to their homes in Bhola for Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha .

(CNN) -- A few seconds could have made all the difference in the fate of a family who spent three days lost in the snowy California woods, according to the helicopter pilot who found them. Josh and Lexi Dominguez exit a helicopter Wednesday, shortly after being found. The father of the family, Frederick Dominguez, came running out of the culvert where they had sought shelter when family members heard the sound of the California Highway Patrol helicopter Wednesday afternoon. "Had he not been moving, we would not have seen him, because the tree line was very dense and he came climbing out of the culvert," helicopter pilot Steve Ward told CNN on Thursday. "We were just very lucky." Dominguez had arranged branches to spell the word "help" near the culvert, but rescuers didn't see that until they were turning the helicopter around after spotting Dominguez. The helicopter was on its way out of the area at that point, trying to get ahead of bad weather. "The small window of opportunity we had to find them, it was nothing short of a miracle," paramedic David White, who was riding with Ward, told CNN on Thursday. Watch White and Ward describe the rescue » Dominguez and his three children had been lost in the snow since Sunday, when they set out to cut down a Christmas tree. They sought shelter first in a lean-to they made of branches, then in the culvert under a road. See family's photos of their ordeal » Dominguez said his daughter Lexi, 14, was the first to hear the helicopter overhead. He said he ran though several feet of snow barefooted to wave it down. "When they turned around, man, I was just praising God and saying, 'Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord,' because I knew we had made it," he said. Thursday, Lexi was hospitalized after complaining that her feet hurt. Trying to protect their cold, wet feet from frostbite was an ongoing problem while the four were lost in the forest. Through their three-day ordeal, the oldest son, Chris, 18, tried to keep his younger brother and sister optimistic. "I didn't want them to really lose hope," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night, hours after the family was rescued. "Whenever they would freak out, I would just be like, it's all right. We're going to make it through this. This is nothing. Like, we have already been here a couple of days. What's a couple more days?" Watch the family talk about their "scary" ordeal » But it was hard to stay hopeful lost in rugged terrain, in heavy snow, with no food and few warm clothes. "I just remember walking and walking and being like, we're not going to make it," said Lexi. "They can't even see us through all this fog. And I just -- there was just a couple of times where I was really, really scared." "I didn't think we were going to make it," said Josh, 12. They removed their sodden socks in an effort to stay warm and dry while they waited for rescue, according to the rescuers who found them. They warmed their feet inside each other's shirts to help stave off frostbite. "You just go to survival mode," Frederick Dominguez said. "Every parent would do that. You would do anything, sacrifice yourself, because these are your kids." Watch mother as she finds out family is safe » While the family huddled in the culvert, Lexi led them in impromptu singalongs. "Someone would say, sing this song, and I would be like, OK," she recalled. "We would all help her, too," her brother Josh added. Chris told CNN one of the things he would remember most about the experience was "Lexi in there, in the tunnel, singing her heart

NEW: Doctors ask family to return to hospital for precautionary checkups . Lexi Dominguez hospitalized after complaining her feet hurt . Family sought shelter from snow in culvert, warmed each other's frostbitten feet . Frederick Dominguez and his 3 children set out Sunday to cut Christmas tree .

(CNN) -- A few weeks ago, Tony Hoard, a 57-year-old manufacturing worker in Indiana, boarded a flight on Midwest Airlines to Las Vegas, Nevada, with his Australian Shepherd. The flight attendant smiled at the two and said, "Welcome aboard." Midwest Airlines allows some of its canine customers to be seated in the cabin. Hoard has flown with Rory, his furry 40-pound companion, in coach more than 15 times on Midwest, the Wisconsin-based airline that boasts "The Best Care in the Air." Each time they fly, Rory wears a harness and sits strapped into a seat. "Rory gets the window seat," said Hoard, whose dog has won a series of Frisbee competitions. "He likes to look out the window when the plane takes off and naps the rest of the way." Blame America's pet obsession, but in recent years, more members of the airline industry are embracing dogs and cats on board. Midwest Airlines may be an extreme example, letting select dogs sit in the same seats as humans, but other airlines are relaxing their pet policies by letting smaller cats and dogs come into the cabin area. About a year ago, Midwest began allowing certain "celebrity" dogs that appear in canine competitions, shows or advertisements to sit in seats. "They are just passengers with four legs instead of two," said Susan Kerwin, who oversees the pet program at Midwest Airlines. The pet travel frenzy has spurred the creation of an airline catering exclusively to pets. This month, Pet Airways, the nation's first pet-only airline, will begin flying in five major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, California. It's an alternative to shipping larger pets in the cargo area of a plane, where there have been pet injuries and even deaths. Chart: Compare some of the common airline fees "The owners can check a bag with them," explained Alyse Tognotti, a spokeswoman for Pet Airways. "Or if they have a special blanket or toy, basically anything that will take stress out of traveling." On each Pet Airways flight, services include potty breaks and experienced animal handlers checking up on the animals every 15 minutes. Nervous parents can track their pets online. Southwest Airlines was the latest airline to join the pet-loving bandwagon in May, when it permitted small dogs and cats to travel in the cabin area. The pets must sit in an approved kennel that fits under the seat. "I wasn't going to fly Southwest Airlines," said Katie Chapman, 37, of Louisville, Kentucky, who is mom to a friendly 18-pound Cairn Terrier that resembles Toto from "The Wizard of Oz." Since the airline has changed its policy, she plans to take her puppy on a Southwest flight to California this fall. "I'm so glad now that she will be able to go with me." Each year, airlines transport hundreds of thousands of pets in the cargo and cabin areas. Continental reported moving 270,000 pets last year in cabin and cargo, more than triple the number moved before the airline's pet program officially kicked off eight years ago. The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't have restrictions on whether animals can be in the cabin area, but airlines must allow service dogs for the disabled on board. Only cats and dogs are allowed in the cabin areas on most airlines. In the cargo area, other pets like rabbits, birds and lizards can be stowed. The cost of flying your furry friend ranges from $75 to nearly $300 each leg. It's a hefty price tag, but profit-bleeding airlines are happy to offer the option. Pets can even rack up frequent flier miles. After three flights with Midwest, the pet can earn a fourth flight free. Continental and JetBlue Airways' programs credit the pet's trip on the owner's frequent flier account. But one airline is catering to allergy-ridden customers who don't want pets in the cabin. Last year, Frontier Airlines banned pets from the cabin area because officials

Most airlines allow small pets to ride in crates in the cabin for a fee . Pet Airlines will fly to five cities, transporting pets only . Continental moved 270,000 pets in 2008 as part of its pet program . Allergist say pets flying in cabin is dangerous for some patients .

(CNN) -- A final autopsy report released Wednesday shows that Florida A&M University drum major Robert D. Champion suffered muscle damage commonly seen in such events as car accidents, prolonged seizures, child abuse and torture, an expert said. The alleged fatal beating suffered last month by Champion, 26, during a marching band hazing must have been brutal, two experts said. "His muscles were beaten so badly that they were destroyed like you would see in a heart attack," Dr. Howard Oliver, a forensic pathologist who is a former deputy medical examiner in the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, told CNN after reviewing the autopsy findings. Band bus a complex crime scene, expert says The damaged muscles leaked out a protein called myoglobin, "and it's too much for the kidneys to process. It causes the kidneys to fail," which results in death, Oliver said. The muscle damage is called rhabdomyolysis, Oliver said. "Most of the time it's in (car) accidents or in people who freeze to death, and you get it in a lot of people who have prolonged seizures or in people who are in extreme physical activity like running in a marathon," Oliver said. "You see it in torture or child abuse and severe burns when the muscles get damaged." In the case of seizures or freezing to death, people "shiver and it really works the muscles over a long period of time, and it damages them, and they release the protein," Oliver said. Lawrence Kobilinsky, professor of forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said the beating must have been severe. "This kid took a real beating over his body," Kobilinsky told CNN after reviewing the autopsy report. "They're saying that the beating was so powerful, it just squashed the tissue. "These are extremely forceful blows that this kid took, all over his back and his arms and his shoulders. It's kind of like in Egypt where they beat up that poor woman yesterday," Kobilinsky said Wednesday. "It's interesting that there is no trauma to the neck or no trauma to the head. It's interesting that they are avoiding those areas," Kobilinsky said of the people who delivered the beating. Added Oliver: "They just pummeled him." Had they aimed for his abdomen, "he would have bled to death." The autopsy was performed by Associate Medical Examiner Sara H. Irrgang of Florida's District 9 Medical Examiner's Office in Orlando, with oversight from Chief Medical Examiner Jan C. Garavaglia. That office serves Orange and Osceola counties. The complete autopsy report follows a press release issued last week by the medical examiner's office that called Champion's death a homicide. The medical examiners said in that statement that Champion died November 19 because of "hemorrhagic shock" -- the result of excessive internal bleeding -- "due to soft tissue hemorrhage, due to blunt force trauma sustained during a hazing incident." Champion collapsed in Orlando on a bus carrying members of the Florida A&M Marching 100 band after a football game that included a halftime performance by the band. Christopher Chestnut, the lawyer for Champion's family, has charged that Champion died after receiving "some dramatic blows, perhaps (having an) elevated heart rate" tied to "a hazing ritual" that took place on the bus. Some band members have said Champion died after taking part in a rite of passage called "crossing Bus C." One member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that students "walk from the front of the bus to the back of the bus backward while the bus is full of other band members, and you get beaten until you get to the back." No one has been charged in Champion's death; the Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case. The medical examiner's office said last week that Champion "collapsed and died within an hour of a hazing incident during which he suffered multiple blunt trauma blows to his body." The autopsy conducted after

Medical examiner releases complete autopsy report of FAMU's Robert D. Champion . "His muscles were beaten so badly that they were destroyed," an expert says . "The beating was so powerful, it just squashed the tissue," another expert says .

(CNN) -- A fire on the back porch of a home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was the town's 18th arson fire of the year, authorities determined Wednesday morning. The latest in a string of arson fires was quickly extinguished on a back porch of this Coatesville house. John Hageman from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the small fire broke out about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday in the eastern Pennsylvania town. Four other fires were deliberately set Saturday in neighboring communities in surrounding Chester County, according to the ATF. They were ignited on the front and side porches of homes, officials said. None of the homes was completely lost, Hageman said. The Coatesville arsons have received national attention. At least 30 fires have been deliberately set in Coatesville in 2008 and 2009. Of those, more than half have occurred in the past four weeks. The string of arson fires has rattled residents, who have demanded action from City Hall and fire officials. A county task force is investigating the arsons and looking into other fires near Coatesville, which is about 40 miles west of Philadelphia. Fire swept through 15 homes in the town during the weekend of January 24 and 25, authorities said. Coatesville has a population of about 11,000.

Back porch fire is ruled an arson in Coatesville, Pennsylvania . The town, population 11,000, has had 18 arsons so far this year . At least 30 fires were deliberately set in the town in 2008 and 2009 . Fire swept through 15 Coatesville homes the weekend of January 24-25 .

(CNN) -- A five-year-old British boy who was kidnapped in Pakistan earlier this month has been found safe and is back with his relatives, the British High Commission said Tuesday. Sahil Saeed was released at a school in the Punjab province of Pakistan, said Assistant Chief Constable David Thompson of the Greater Manchester Police in England, near his parents' residence in Oldham. From there, Sahil wandered into a field and was found by residents who looked after him until police arrived, Thompson said. Regional Pakistani police said Sahil was found near the town of Danga in Punjab province, close to where he was abducted March 3. Sahil was in good condition, said Aslam Tareen, the head of the regional police. "He is with members of family in Pakistan and the Pakistani police, and there is also contact from the British High Commission," Thompson said. He added that Sahil had already spoken to his mother and father in England by telephone and that both parents were "clearly relieved" to speak to their son. The High Commission issued a statement thanking police in Jhelum, another town in the eastern province of Punjab, for the boy's return. "This is fantastic news that brings to an end a traumatic ordeal faced by Sahil and his family," said Adam Thomson, the British high commissioner to Pakistan. Police arrested some of the kidnappers, said Rana Sanaullah, the provincial law minister. Sahil, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, was on the last day of a two-week vacation in Pakistan before he was to return home to Oldham, in northern England. Gunmen barged into Sahil's grandmother's home in Jhelum and took him. They reportedly demanded a ransom of 10 million rupees ($118,000). Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said the captors included someone close to the family. "There is someone who is very close to the family because the way the situation happened, the way the entry was made," Malik told reporters. But Tareen said Tuesday there is no evidence that any family member was involved. There was also no indication a ransom was paid, Tareen said. Sanaullah, the law minister, said the kidnappers were part of a ring that operated in and out of Pakistan. He did not elaborate. Thompson, of the Greater Manchester Police, could not comment on the possibility of arrests in England. "At this stage there are no inquiries that we're carrying out in the UK that would lead me to contemplate that we'd make an arrest in the near future," he said.

NEW: Sahil Saeed was released at a school in the Punjab province of Pakistan . Sahil was in good condition, said Aslam Tareen, the head of the regional police . Gunmen took him at gunpoint from his grandmother's home in Punjabon on March 3 . They reportedly demanded a ransom of 10 million rupees ($118,000)

(CNN) -- A fledgling force of Syrian military deserters said it struck an important government security complex on the outskirts of the capital overnight, a bold strike reflecting the resolve and confidence of the regime's opposition. The assault came ahead of an Arab League meeting Wednesday to reaffirm a decision to suspend Syria's membership, a move the group made over the weekend after President Bashar al-Assad's government failed to abide by a proposal to end a brutal crackdown on protesters. Also Wednesday, France recalled its ambassador to Syria, the French Foreign Ministry said. The move followed attacks on French missions in Syria. The defector group, called the Free Syrian Army, said it attacked an air intelligence base in Harasta and planted "powerful explosions inside and around the compound that shook its foundations." Andrew Tabler, an expert on Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said air intelligence has been deeply involved in the eight-month-long crackdown by the Syrian government against protesters, a grinding civil conflict that the United Nations says has left more than 3,500 people dead. Tabler said the strike reflects the growing sophistication of the Free Syrian Army, which has brigades across the country and has been in existence since the summer. "It opens up a new era of the conflict," he said, adding that the development represents "a bad direction" for the country. "Until now, most of the protests have been peaceful." The Free Syrian Army said it "carried out special operations in various areas in Damascus in order to spoil the plan that the regime is preparing against our people and our homeland." The regime should "take note" that the deserter force "is capable of striking them in any place and at any time we want," the group said. Activists said the deserter army used rocket-propelled grenades and the intelligence complex was damaged. Activists also reported damage at the complex in Harasta, an eastern suburb of the capital, Damascus. Free Syrian Army Lt. Abdullah al Odah, speaking to CNN in Istanbul, Turkey, called the late-night operation brief. He said 20 defectors armed with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles participated and that it involved people from inside as well as outside the security branch. He didn't know whether security forces suffered casualties but he said no rebels were hurt. He called air intelligence "one of the most terrifying secret service departments in Syria" and said such security entities will be targeted by defectors. "This branch is responsible for many of the crimes against Syrian people and political prisoners," al Odah said. "We will announce the whole story to the world in the correct time." It was one of five actions reported by the opposition force, which has recently emerged as an important factor in the opposition movement as more and more soldiers have left the Syrian army. The opposition force also reported clashes with personnel loyal to al-Assad in several areas. They include Qaboun and Arbeen, Damascus neighborhoods, and Saqba, a suburb. There was also fierce fighting in Douma, a city in the Syrian countryside. "A clash between the Free Syrian Army and Assad's criminal gangs and his mobsters (the shabiha) in Douma, our Free Syrian military caused the Assad's gangs a lesson that they will never forget and heavy losses at the roundabout in the Douma municipality," the army said. The shabiha are pro-government militias. Tabler said the Free Syrian Army consists of soldiers who've left their posts instead of obeying orders to fire on protesters. They've also had active operations in and around Homs, Idlib and other areas recently, he said. Opposition groups like the Free Syrian Army have been calling on the international community to help protect protesters. They have urged the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone, as it did in the Libyan conflict, and a naval blockade. Army leaders have said such policies could allow them to establish a base of operations to launch a campaign to bring down al-Assad's regime. The

Free Syrian Army says it knows of no casualties in assault on government complex . "It opens up a new era of the conflict," a scholar says . A Turkish diplomat says "helping hands" to Syria have been wasted . More deaths are reported in Syria on Wednesday .

(CNN) -- A former "Manson family" member who stabbed actress Sharon Tate to death more than 40 years ago and is now terminally ill faces her 13th parole hearing on Wednesday. Susan Atkins, shown here after her indictment in the Manson murders, has a parole hearing Wednesday. Susan Atkins, 61, has terminal brain cancer. As of earlier this year, she was paralyzed over 85 percent of her body and could not sit up in bed or be moved into a wheelchair, according to a Web site maintained by her husband and attorney, James Whitehouse. However, despite her declining health and an impressive prison record, Whitehouse wrote, "there is still a very real chance the Parole Board will nonetheless insist her release would be a danger to society." The hearing will be held at the Central California Women's Facility at Chowchilla, California, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Atkins was moved to the Chowchilla facility from the California Institution for Women at Frontera last year because of her illness. Watch Linda Kasabian describe the murders » "Last we heard, she is expected to attend," Thornton said Tuesday of Atkins. The proceeding is scheduled to be held in a hearing room, but depending on Atkins' condition, it could be held at her bedside, Thornton said. The panel is expected to render its decision following the hearing after deliberating behind closed doors, she said. Atkins -- California's longest-serving female inmate -- has been denied parole 12 times previously, Thornton said. She was 21 when she and other followers of Charles Manson participated in a two-night rampage that left seven people dead and terrorized the city of Los Angeles in August 1969. She and the others -- Manson, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson -- were initially sentenced to death in the slayings of five people, including Tate, and two additional deaths the following night. Their sentences were automatically commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court struck down the nation's death penalty laws in 1972. By her own admission, Atkins held Tate down as she pleaded for mercy, and stabbed the actress, who was eight months pregnant, 16 times. In a 1993 parole board hearing, Atkins said Tate "asked me to let her baby live. ... I told her I didn't have any mercy on her." After killing Tate, according to historical accounts of the murders, Atkins scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the door of the home Tate shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski. Polanski was not home at the time, but three of Tate's houseguests were also slain by the killers, as was a teenager who was visiting the home's caretaker in his nearby cottage. If the panel decides to grant Atkins parole -- called a "tentative suitability finding" -- the decision is subject to a 120-day review process by the California Board of Parole Hearings, Thornton said. If it still stands, the matter then goes to the governor's office. The governor's options include allowing the decision to stand, actively approving it, modifying it or reversing it, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Web site. However, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has previously opposed Atkins' request for compassionate release -- a request made by terminally ill patients wishing to be released before death. The Board of Parole Hearings unanimously denied that request in July 2008. It was also opposed by Debra Tate, Sharon Tate's sister. If parole is not granted, another hearing will be set in three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years, at the discretion of the panel, Thornton said. Atkins has been described as a model prisoner who has accepted responsibility for her role in the slayings and now shuns Manson. But Debra Tate told CNN in an e-mail in March she does not believe any Manson family member convicted of murder should ever be set free, saying the slayings were "so vicious, so inhumane, so depraved, that there is no turning back." "The

Susan Atkins has admitted she stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate to death . She has been denied parole on 12 previous occasions . Atkins has terminal brain cancer and just months to live . She was denied compassionate release in July 2008 .

(CNN) -- A former Alabama judge accused of checking male inmates out of jail and forcing them to engage in sexual activity was found not guilty Monday on charges of sexual abuse, attempted sodomy and assault, his lawyer said. Attorney Robert Clark said former Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on several charges and the judge in the case granted a directed verdict of acquittal on all the other counts. The Mobile County district attorney did not immediately return CNN calls for comment. Thomas, 48, denied wrongdoing. Clark said on October 20 that the judge was trying to mentor the inmates and did not assault them. The judge does not deny bringing the inmates into his office, Clark said last week. "He was mentoring them. He was trying to get them to do right, to be productive citizens." Thomas cried after the verdicts were read, Clark said Monday. "He hugged me and he hugged his wife. And he had a courtroom full of supporters. It all worked out in the end," the attorney said. One of the alleged victims testified October 19 that he doesn't know why his semen was found on the carpet of a small room used as an office by Thomas, according to The Mobile Press-Register newspaper. But he did say Thomas spanked him with a belt on several occasions, the newspaper reported, and that the paddlings took place inside a jury room, in the small office and at a Mobile, Alabama, fraternity house. Another man testified that after he was charged with kidnapping and robbery in 2002, Thomas visited him in jail and urged the man to let Thomas decide the case instead of a jury, according to the Press-Register. Thomas convicted him of lesser charges, he testified, and sentenced him to a 90-day boot camp. He said Thomas also beat him with a belt on his bare buttocks about a dozen times at the courthouse, the newspaper reported. Neither man was identified. "All of them [the alleged victims] were given preferential treatment at some point," Nicki Patterson, chief assistant district attorney for Mobile County, said earlier this month. "And ultimately, when some of them refused to continue participating [in the activities], they were given what I would view as excessive sentences. But certainly while the inmates were involved with the activities we allege, the state would say, it was extremely lenient sentences." Clark said his client's next hurdle is the Alabama State Bar. "They suspended him back in March because he got indicted. And we're fighting to give him his law license back," he said. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report.

Ex-Judge Herman Thomas acquitted of sexual abuse, attempted sodomy, assault . Judge says he brought inmates to his office to mentor them . Lawyer: "He was trying to get them to do right, to be productive citizens"

(CNN) -- A former Alabama judge is standing trial on charges he checked male inmates out of jail and forced them to engage in sexual activity such as paddling in exchange for leniency. Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas denies all the charges, his attorney says. Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas at one point faced more than 100 criminal counts in the case, including kidnapping, sexual abuse, extortion and sodomy. Prosecutors filed cases relating to 15 alleged victims, with multiple counts in each case. But four of those cases have been dismissed -- some thrown out by a judge because the statute of limitations expired and others because prosecutors decided not to present evidence relating to them -- leaving 11 alleged victims and 51 counts, according to defense attorney Robert Clark and CNN affiliate WKRG-TV. Retired Marengo County Judge Claud Neilson dismissed jurors Tuesday while attorneys argued whether the jury should be allowed to consider kidnapping, extortion or assault charges, WKRG reported. Neilson already has ruled there is enough evidence for jurors to consider the sex abuse charges. Thomas, 48, has pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing. Clark told CNN on Tuesday that Thomas was trying to mentor the inmates and did not assault them. "The whole thing is, he tried to help people in this community," Clark said. "He helped thousands to grow up and be productive citizens." The judge does not deny bringing the inmates into his office, Clark said. "He was mentoring them. He was trying to get them to do right, to be productive citizens." One of the alleged victims testified Monday that he doesn't know why his semen was found on the carpet of a small room used as an office by Thomas, according to The Mobile Press-Register newspaper. But he did say Thomas spanked him with a belt on several occasions, the newspaper reported, and that the paddlings took place inside a jury room, in the small office and at a Mobile fraternity house. Another man testified that after he was charged with kidnapping and robbery in 2002, Thomas visited him in jail and urged the man to let Thomas decide the case instead of a jury, according to the Press-Register. Thomas convicted him of lesser charges, he testified, and sentenced him to a 90-day boot camp. He said Thomas also beat him with a belt on his bare buttocks about a dozen times at the courthouse, the newspaper reported. Neither man was identified. "All of them [the alleged victims] were given preferential treatment at some point," Nicki Patterson, chief assistant district attorney for Mobile County, told CNN earlier this month. "And ultimately, when some of them refused to continue participating [in the activities], they were given what I would view as excessive sentences. But certainly while the inmates were involved with the activities we allege, the state would say, it was extremely lenient sentences." However, "two of the individuals said he [Thomas] did nothing bad to them," Clark said Tuesday. "That he didn't paddle them. That he only helped them. ... I mean, the last guy that testified was a murderer. And he's complaining he got assaulted. 'I got assaulted,' -- yeah, right." Asked whether Thomas admits paddling the men, Clark said, "I didn't say either way. ... I'm saying there ain't no sexual innuendoes." Neilson has heard arguments on whether an expert should be allowed to testify about sexual fetishes for the prosecution. Clark said the expert has not interviewed any of the alleged victims and that he fails to see how the testimony fits into the case. Neilson was brought in to hear the case after all the Mobile County Circuit judges recused themselves -- standard procedure in a case involving another judge. Thomas resigned from the bench in October 2007 before he was scheduled to stand trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on multiple ethics violations charges. The complaint, dismissed after the resignation, accused him of "extrajudiciary personal contact" with some defendants but

Defense lawyer: Ex-Alabama judge was mentoring inmates, not seeking sex . Ex-Judge Herman Thomas accused of paddling inmates in exchange for leniency . Eleven alleged victims and 51 counts involved after some cases dismissed . Thomas has denied allegations .

(CNN) -- A former Utah policeman is a suspect in at least three of Monday's four rush-hour shootings near Dallas, Texas, including one of two fatal attacks, police said Tuesday. CNN affiliate KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided this file photo of the Dallas suspect, Brian Smith. The suspect, Brian Smith, tried to commit suicide after the Monday-evening shootings and was in a hospital in serious condition, Dallas police detective Lt. Craig Miller said. Police used ballistic tests to link Smith, a Utah state police officer for 12 years, to the shootings in which one driver was killed, one was injured by shattered glass and one escaped uninjured, Dallas police detective Lt. Craig Miller said. Miller said it is unclear if Smith was involved in the other fatal shooting, which was the first attack of the evening. Four motorists were attacked along a three-mile stretch near and on the LBJ Freeway, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Dallas, on Monday evening, police said. The first attack, which happened in Garland, Texas, about 5:41 p.m., killed Jorge Lopez. Garland police said Lopez, 20, was sitting in his Nissan at a traffic light when a man in a pickup pulled alongside him and fired shots into his car, killing him. A few minutes after the Garland shooting and two miles away on LBJ Freeway, a gunman fired at two tractor-trailers. While one driver escaped injuries, William Scott Miller, 42, of Frankfort, Kentucky, was shot to death behind the wheel of a United Van Lines truck, police said. "He was going to be traveling home," Craig Miller said. "He was about to park his rig. He was going to get on a plane to fly to be with his wife and children for the Christmas season and then come back to this location." Miller called the truck driver a hero, saying he was able to control his rig before he died -- preventing other motorists from being hurt. The fourth attack came a mile west on LBJ Freeway when gunfire shattered the windshield of another tractor-trailer. The bullets missed the driver, but flying glass caused minor cuts, police said. Miller said video from the Garland shooting is available, and specialists were trying to enhance it to bring out details. Businesses along the other routes also may have video that will help police, he said. A friend of Lopez's said he was "a straight-up good guy, never had problems with anybody, never started anything with anybody." "So that's why this seems so out of the blue," Lopez's friend said.

NEW: Former Utah state police officer named a suspect some of Monday's shootings . NEW: Police: Suspect tried to kill himself, was hospitalized in serious condition . Two drivers were shot and killed, another wounded in Dallas rush hour Monday .

(CNN) -- A former drug dealer was executed in Texas on Wednesday night for the murders of two reputed gang members -- 15 years to the day after the crime. Texas death row inmate Frank Moore says he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed two in 1994. Frank Moore, 49, was pronounced dead at 7:21 p.m. ET, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. "Self-defense is not capital murder," Moore said before the lethal injection began, echoing his unsuccessful claims to the courts to prevent his execution. Moore did not deny firing the fatal shots outside a San Antonio bar but insisted he acted in self-defense and did not deserve to die. Moore was the second death row inmate to be executed in 2009. He spoke at length with CourtTVnews.com in 2007. Samuel Boyd and Patrick Clark were shot multiple times in the head and chest early in the morning of January 21, 1994, outside the Wheels of Joy bar. "They came with intentions to kill me," Moore said in the interview. "It was a do-or-die situation." But no witnesses ever came forward at trial to corroborate Moore's self-defense claims. Prosecutors contended that Moore, a long-time gang member with a lengthy rap sheet dating back to his teens, shot the two in cold blood to assert his authority after a shoving match broke out in the bar, according to court records. A Bexar County jury convicted Moore and sentenced him to death, but his conviction was reversed in 1998 after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found error in the trial court's refusal to give the jury the option of convicting Moore of a lesser offense. Even so, Moore was convicted and sentenced to death at his second trial in 1999. Moore insisted he acted in self-defense when he opened fire on Boyd, 23, and Clark, 15, at a bar near the housing projects where Moore admitted he sold crack cocaine and weapons. But it was not until 2006 that a private investigator, who once worked against Moore and his fellow gangsters, came forward with information that Moore said corroborated his self-defense claims. Warren Huel, a retired Navy Seal who was in charge of the private security firm that oversaw the projects, was the first peace officer on the scene, arriving about 45 minutes before the San Antonio Police Department, according to an affidavit. During that time, Huel said he spoke with witnesses who reported that Boyd and Clark shot at Moore first from inside the car after trying to run him over, according to the affidavit. Witnesses also told Huel that they had seen the victims' relatives remove their weapons from the car before police arrived, Huel stated in the affidavit. When Huel attempted to share the information with San Antonio Police, he says the officers told him to forget everything he had seen and learned, he said in an affidavit. "I was told that did not matter, as they already had Frank Moore, the murder weapon and an eyewitness," Huel stated in his affidavit. "I was told Moore was a dope dealer and had to go to jail." Since then, three others have come forward claiming they witnessed the shootings, providing similar details, said Moore's lawyer, David Sergi. "Unfortunately, people from the street didn't come forward to testify at the time of the trial," he said. "The problem is, the law doesn't allow for a change of circumstances." The Texas State Attorney's Office argued that Moore's claims should be dismissed because the evidence had always been available, and was not the "newly discovered" evidence the law requires. A lower court sided with the state, prompting Moore to appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Monday, the court declined to hear his claims, making the U.S. Supreme Court Moore's last chance for a reprieve. The justices remained silent on the matter.

Frank Moore pronounced dead at 7:21 p.m. ET in Huntsville, Texas . Moore shot Samuel Boyd, Patrick Clark multiple times outside bar in 1994 . Moore says he acted in self-defense after the men shot at him, tried to run him over . Supreme Court declined to issue stay of execution .

(CNN) -- A former federal prosecutor was arrested Wednesday on charges related to the murder of a witness in a drug case, among many other counts, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, New Jersey, said. Former federal prosecutor Paul Bergrin is charged with leading a racketeering conspiracy that included a murder. Paul Bergrin and three others were taken into custody after a federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted them on 14 counts, including murder, racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges, a statement from Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra Jr. said. The indictment charges Bergrin with leading a racketeering conspiracy that included the murder of a witness in a drug case and an attempt to hire a hit man in another drug case, the statement said. Bergrin also is charged with wire fraud and money laundering, Marra said. Gerald Shargel, Bergrin's attorney, said his client would plead not guilty to all charges. "This is largely dredging up old issues, and we intend to vigorously fight the charges," Shargel said. The U.S. Attorney's Office statement said Bergrin was involved in the murder of a confidential witness in one federal drug case and tried to hire a Chicago, Illinois, hit man to kill a witness in another drug case. The second killing never occurred, the statement said, because the proposed hit man was a cooperating witness in the case. Marra called Bergrin's alleged conduct "simply shocking." "A licensed lawyer, a former prosecutor essentially became one of the criminals he represents, supporting, encouraging, indeed directing, a criminal enterprise that engaged in murder and murder conspiracies, drug trafficking and financial fraud," Marra said in the statement. "Bergrin can now expect to feel the full weight of the very legal system he turned on its head with his conduct." Bergrin was an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey before going into private practice. According to the New York Law Journal, Bergrin, 53, pleaded guilty this month to two misdemeanor counts for his involvement with a prostitution ring. He later represented U.S. Army Sgt. Javal Davis, one of seven people charged in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq. In that case, Davis entered a plea agreement on reduced charges before his court martial began. A recorded message at Bergrin's Newark, New Jersey, office said it was closed today, and messages left with Bergrin's cell phone and the cell phones of two associates went unanswered.

Paul Bergrin arrested after federal grand jury indicts him and 3 others on 14 counts . Bergrin was assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey before going into private practice . Indictment charges him with leading conspiracy that included murder of a witness . Bergrin's attorney: Case is "dredging up old issues," will plead not guilty .

(CNN) -- A former foreign minister claimed to be in control of an interim government in Kyrgyzstan early Thursday after a wave of protests that left at least 40 dead and appeared to have driven President Kurmanbek Bakiev from office. "We must restore a lot of things that have been wrongly ruled," said Roza Otunbayeva, who called herself the country's interim leader. No independent confirmation of the claim was immediately available. The U.S. State Department said earlier that it believed Bakiev remained in power, but Otunbayeva said he had fled Bishkek, the capital, and his government had resigned after a day of clashes between anti-government protesters and police. Are you there? Share your story, photos and video A senior State Department official told CNN late Wednesday that the situation in Kyrgyzstan remains "very fluid and fast moving," and declined to comment on reports that the government had collapsed or that the president had left the country. The official, who insisted on anonymity because of the quickly changing situation, said the United States had been in contact with both members of the government and the opposition. The United States is encouraging all sides to work toward resolution according to the rule of law, the official said. Otunbayeva's announcement came after hours of clashes between anti-government demonstrators and police, who responded with water cannon, tear gas and eventually with live ammunition. Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry told CNN that 40 people had been killed and 400 wounded in the clashes, and that the toll was expected to rise. The former Soviet republic is home to an air base that forms an important link in the supply line for U.S. and NATO forces in nearby Afghanistan. In Washington, a senior Pentagon official said that the turmoil has interrupted flights into and out of that facility, and it was unclear when those flights would resume. But the U.S. military has contingency plans to deal with the situation, the official said. Otunbayeva is the head of Kyrgyzstan's Social Democratic Party and a member of its parliament. She was a leader of the protests that brought Bakiev to power in 2005, and she served as his foreign minister for about two years before quitting to protest his appointment of one of the president's brothers to an ambassadorship, said Mirsulzhan Namazaliev, executive director of the Central Asian Free Market Institute in Bishkek. Opposition leaders have accused Bakiev of consolidating power by keeping key economic and security posts in the hands of relatives or close associates. Protests began Tuesday in the northern city of Talas, Kyrgyzstan, over increases in electric and fuel rates, which had been jacked up at the first of the year as Bakiev's government sold the country's public utilities to companies controlled by his friends, Namazaliev said. The demonstrations spread to the capital on Wednesday after the government responded by arresting opposition leaders in Talas. Namazaliev said that demonstrators were already gathered outside Bishkek's main square when he was headed to his office Wednesday morning, and the crowd had grown to about 5,000 people by noon (2 a.m. ET). About that time, police began to open fire on them, he said. "I was running together with them while the police was shooting," Namazaliev said. Other protesters remained and battled with police, and some took weapons from officers they overpowered, he said. Machine-gun fire could be heard in the streets into the evening. Opposition leaders took control of the state television network Wednesday evening, airing images of riot police turning water cannons on demonstrators and asking people to donate blood. Though the opposition called for calm, clashes with police continued into Wednesday night, Bishkek resident Munarbek Kuldanbaev said. And Namazaliev said some protesters turned to looting after the proclamation of a new government, and police began trying to crack down on the looting only after negotiations with the interim government. iReporter describes protests, discusses grievances Bakiev came to power in 2005 after a similar upheaval led to the ouster of then-President Askar Akayev. He won a new term in July 2009 in a vote the United States said "was marred by significant obstacles for opposition parties, intimidation, voting irregularities, and the

NEW: Former foreign minister says she is in charge of interim government . NEW: Roza Otunbayeva says President Kurmanbek Bakiev has been driven from office . NEW: No independent confirmation of the claim was immediately available. At least 40 dead, 400 wounded in fighting in capital city, health agency says .

(CNN) -- A former government contract employee was indicted on charges of stealing restricted nuclear energy-related materials and putting the United States at risk, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Sources say the classified materials were taken from the East Tennessee Technology Park. Roy Lynn Oakley, 67, of Roane County, Tennessee, appeared in federal court in Knoxville on Thursday. Oakley was briefly detained for questioning in the case in January, when authorities first learned of the alleged plot to divulge the materials, government sources told CNN. He voluntarily surrendered Thursday at an FBI field office in Knoxville, the sources said. Oakley is a former employee of Bechtel Jacobs, the Department of Energy's prime environmental management contractor at the East Tennessee Technology Park, prosecutors said. The indictment states that Oakley, "having possession of, access to and having been entrusted with sections of 'barriers' and associated hardware used for uranium enrichment through the process of gaseous diffusion ... having reason to believe that such data would be utilized to injure the United States and secure an advantage to a foreign nation, did communicate, transmit and disclose such data to another person." The transfer took place January 26, the indictment alleges. Oakley is also charged with converting the material and "restricted data" to his own use. He began doing so on about October 17, 2006, and continued through January, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the materials involved have been examined by scientists and posed no threat to people who may have come into contact with them. Oakley's attorney, Herb Moncier, said outside court Thursday that Oakley's job was to break rods "into little pieces" and throw them away. Moncier said Oakley had a security clearance, but Moncier did not believe it was a high-level clearance. The government alleges that in January, Oakley attempted to sell the "pieces of scrap" to someone he thought was a French agent -- but in reality was an undercover FBI agent, Moncier said. He said he questions whether those broken pieces would be considered an "appliance" under the law. "Mr. Oakley has cooperated fully for the last six months," said Moncier, who added that he had traveled to Washington for work on the case. Each count carries a possible sentence upon conviction of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. "While none of the stolen equipment was ever transmitted to a foreign government or terrorist organization, the facts of this case demonstrate the importance of safeguarding our nuclear technology and pursuing aggressive prosecution against those who attempt to breach the safeguards and put that technology in the wrong hands," Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security, said in the Justice Department statement. One government source said the materials involved are not the "crown jewels," but they should not have been taken from the facility. A "barrier" is used to filter uranium during the enrichment process, according to nuclear energy officials, but a significant number of barriers are needed to do that job. Sources told CNN that federal authorities have been following Oakley and investigating the case for at least six months, after he allegedly tried to sell the classified material. Oakley, described as a low-level employee, apparently did not make contact with any foreign government and is not a foreign agent of any kind, an official familiar with the case said. A government official with with knowledge of the case said that when authorities learned of Oakley's alleged intentions six months ago, the FBI and Department of Energy launched a joint investigation. The FBI then developed a sting operation, government officials familiar with the case said, and authorities intervened before there could be any involvement of a foreign country. East Tennessee Technology Park is an area of the DOE's Oak Ridge reservation "where we are currently decontaminating and decommissioning buildings that were last used in 1985," Gerald Boyd, manager of the DOE's Oak Ridge site office, said Thursday. "When they were in use, now over 20 years ago, some of the buildings at ETTP housed facilities used for the

NEW: Indictment: Man tried to pass nuclear filters to foreign agent . NEW: Roy Lynn Oakley appears in court in Tennessee after surrendering . NEW: Facility's role is to break down decommissioned equipment . NEW: Lawyer: Oakley's job was to break machine parts into pieces, pitch them .

(CNN) -- A former mayor of a city in southeast Wisconsin pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of child pornography, solicitation of a minor and related counts, a prosecutor said. Gary Becker, former mayor of Racine, Wisconsin, is charged with soliciting someone he believed was a girl. Former Racine Mayor Gary Becker, who was arraigned Tuesday, could face a sentence of up to 164 years if convicted on all counts, District Attorney Michael Nieskes told CNN. He was still in office when he was arrested last month at a shopping mall in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He allegedly tried to meet with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl after chatting with that person online, said Bill Kosh, a spokesman for the Wisconsin attorney general's office. An officer posed online as the underage girl, according to authorities. Becker's attorney did not immediately return calls for comment. Authorities first launched an investigation after Becker brought his personal computer into the mayor's office for repair. The computer technician hired by his office discovered six pornographic images of girls "possibly under the age of 18 years," according to Wisconsin criminal complaint. The technician reported his findings to local law enforcement officers, and they turned the case over to the state's child Internet crimes task force. Members of the task force swapped out the computer's hard drive so they could investigate without alerting Becker, Nieskes said. Their search uncovered further pornographic images of underage girls and more than 1,800 online chats containing "sexually explicit comments," some of them directed at underage girls, the complaint says. Authorities then set up an online profile for the fictitious 14-year-old girl -- using the name "Hopeyoulikeme14" -- and engaged the mayor in a chat that lasted more than two hours, the complaint says. During the chat, the former mayor agreed to meet the girl at a shopping mall, the document says. Becker, who resigned from office after his arrest, faces six criminal counts: child enticement, possession of child pornography, exposing a child to harmful materials, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and misconduct in public office, according to a January statement from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

NEW: A former mayor of Racine, Wisconsin, arraigned Tuesday . NEW: District attorney: Gary Becker could face 164 years in prison if convicted . Becker is charged with sex crimes, including possession of child porn . Prosecutors say he used online chat to solicit what he thought was underage girl .

(CNN) -- A former police officer convicted of murdering his girlfriend and their unborn child tearfully apologized to her family Monday in front of the jury that will decide whether he lives or dies. Bobby Cutts Jr. weeps openly as his mother describes his childhood during a sentencing hearing. "It was a nightmare that will continue to haunt me for the rest of my days," said Bobby Cutts, Jr., 30, reading from a prepared statement at the penalty phase of his murder trial. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm asking you to spare my life." Cutts was convicted on February 15 of the murder of girlfriend Jessie Marie Davis and the aggravated murder of the unborn girl Davis had planned to name Chloe. Chloe's slaying, which jurors found occurred during the commission of another crime, makes Cutts eligible for the death penalty "To imagine that I was responsible for the death of Jessie, the mother of my children and my unborn daughter, is beyond any words that I can express," Cutts said. "Words cannot bring them back, nor can they erase the pain I've caused, but I want to apologize." Watch Cutts' tearful apology » He thanked Davis' family for taking care of the other child he had with Davis. Blake was 2½ at the time of his mother's murder in June 2007. "I pray that you find peace and you someday find room for forgiveness," he said. Earlier, Cutts' mother, Renee, Jones, had told jurors, "I don't know what I would do without him." She described Cutts as a former honor student who loved his job as a police officer. "He was my firstborn, my only son," Jones testified tearfully. "He means so much to me," she continued. "He used to call me three, four times a day." Watch Cutts react as his mother pleads for his life Cutts' punishment is being decided by the same jury of six men and six women who found him guilty. All the jurors are white; Cutts is African-American. Cutts' sister, father and one of his school teachers also testified. Judge Charles E. Brown ordered jurors to return early Tuesday for attorneys' closing arguments. When the arguments conclude, jurors will begin their deliberations. If jurors do not agree on the death penalty, Cutts could receive a possible sentence of life in prison without parole or become eligible for parole in 20, 25 or 30 years. Jones, was the first witness called to the stand by the defense. She said her son was a good youngster who was active in sports, Scouts and his church. "I never had any trouble out of him," she said as Cutts teared up at the defense table. She said Cutts' relationship with his father deteriorated after the parents split. A former teacher described Cutts as a social child given the nickname "Gobble" by his classmates. He was helpful in class, often volunteering to pick stray crayons up from the floor. His father testified that he gave Cutts the nickname "Gobble" because as an infant he resembled " a little Butterball turkey." He said Cutts was a "gifted child" in school. He blamed himself for the break up of his marriage, saying his drinking and gambling contributed to it. Cutts' own personal life was rocky, according to testimony. Davis was nine months pregnant when she disappeared in June 2007. Her body was found in a northeastern Ohio park after a 10-day search that brought national media attention He is Blake's father, as well as the father of the unborn girl, Chloe. According to testimony, Cutts, 30, rolled Davis' body in a comforter and dumped it in a park, leaving toddler son Blake in the house alone at the crime scene in a soiled diaper. "Mommy's in the rug," Blake told police, according to testimony. During the guilt phase of the trial, Cutts sobbed on

NEW: Ex-cop apologizes, asks jury to spare him . Bobby Cutts Jr. faces the death penalty for murders of girlfriend, unborn child . Cutts also could receive life sentence, with or without parole . Same jury that found Cutts guilty is hearing penalty phase of trial .

(CNN) -- A former prison secretary has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for having sex with an inmate she was supposed to be supervising, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in the District of Colorado said Friday. Janine Sligar, 47, of Wray, Colorado, was sentenced Thursday for sexual abuse of a ward. After serving her sentence, she will serve five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender, spokesman Jeff Dorschner said in a news release. Sligar, who must surrender to a facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons on March 2, did not respond to a telephone call to her home for comment. She was indicted in July by a federal grand jury in Denver and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in October. According to the plea agreement, Sligar, a 14-year Bureau of Prisons veteran, said she and inmate Eric McClain met in February 2007, when he was assigned to clean her office. "They began to have conversations and realized they had similar interests," the plea agreement said. That summer, they initiated a sexual relationship that included 10 to 20 sessions of oral sex and sexual intercourse, ending in October 2007, it said. The liaisons primarily occurred in a staff restroom in the housing unit at the Federal Prison Camp in Florence, Colorado, according to the agreement. Sligar, who acknowledged having detailed her activities in a journal, said she obtained a cell phone with a non-local phone number so McClain could call her without raising suspicion and admitted she gave him contraband that included photographs with explicit sexual poses, the plea agreement added. "Defendant also admitted using her cell phone camera to take graphic pictures of a sexual nature which depict defendant and this inmate," it said. Authorities began investigating the incident after receiving a tip about the inappropriate relationship. They then learned that Sligar had changed the primary beneficiary on an insurance policy from her children to McClain. A subsequent search of her home turned up the journal and photographs.

Former prison secretary Janine Sligar had sex with inmate . Sligar sentenced to six months on charge of sexual abuse of a ward . Documents: Sligar, inmate had 10 to 20 sexual encounters . Sligar detailed liaisons in journal, admitted taking and giving inmate graphic photos .

(CNN) -- A former professional football player and his ex-girlfriend have been charged in the killing of her wealthy boyfriend for money, a breakthrough in a cold case dating to 1994. Eric Naposki, a former football player, has been charged in the killing of an ex-lover's boyfriend. Eric Naposki and Nanette Packard McNeal face the possibility of life sentences over the shooting of Bill McLaughlin, according to the Orange County, California, district attorney. Authorities said Packard McNeal persuaded her ex-boyfriend to kill McLaughlin so she could claim a $1 million life insurance policy, inherit $150,000 and get the right to live in his beach house for a year. She gave Naposki a key to McLaughlin's house and information about when he would be home, officials said Wednesday. Naposki shot the victim six times, then went to work at a nearby nightclub where he was a bouncer, according to authorities. Packard McNeal met McLaughlin after she ran a personal ad that said, "I know how to take care of my man if he knows how to take care of me," the district attorney said in a statement. He supported her financially when they were dating and bought her a beach house, authorities said. Packard McNeal has been jailed once for writing checks to herself from McLaughlin's account without his knowledge, including a $250,000 check on the day he was killed. She pleaded guilty to that crime in 1996 and was jailed for a year. The Orange County officials said new evidence prompted the arrests of the two suspects, who were charged with special circumstances murder for financial gain. Packard McNeal is due to appear in court Friday. Naposki was arrested in Connecticut, where he lives. Orange County authorities have asked that he be sent to California to face trial. Naposki, 42, played in the NFL for the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.

Former player Eric Naposki and Nanette Packard McNeal could face life sentences . DA says Packard McNeal persuaded Naposki to kill her wealthy boyfriend . Motive was money, authorities say: $1 million insurance policy and $150,000 in will . She's due in court Friday; Naposki may be sent to California from Connecticut .

(CNN) -- A former teacher in Oklahoma has been charged with sending lewd images of young female students to a retired professor in Pennsylvania, authorities said Thursday. Kimberly Ann Crain, who taught third grade in McLoud Public Schools, faces 23 criminal counts, including manufacturing and possessing juvenile pornography, distribution of juvenile pornography and lewd molestation, according to a Thursday filing in Pottawatomie County district court. The alleged recipient of the photos and videotapes -- sent via e-mail and Skype -- was identified as Gary Joseph Doby. Students allegedly knew him as "Uncle G," according to authorities. The retired Bloomsburg University professor also has been arrested, according to Oklahoma City FBI special agent Clay Simmonds. Doby, 65, faces eights counts of manufacturing juvenile pornography and one count of conspiracy to manufacture it. Doby's location following his arrest could not be confirmed Thursday night, nor could it be determined whether he was being represented by an attorney. CNN's attempts to reach Crain's attorney Thursday night were unsuccessful. According to the complaint, Crain, 48, took photos of the girls in a classroom and at a pizza party at her home. After a search of Crain's home, police confiscated computers and numerous documents and asked for FBI assistance, Simmonds said. Crain was arrested on December 1. The FBI found information on the woman's Skype account that led them to Doby, Simmonds said. A search Thursday of Doby's home yielded a computer "among other questionable items," the FBI said. As he was being led away from his arraignment and extradition hearing, Doby told a reporter for CNN affiliate WNEP in Scranton, Pennsylvania, "Be kind and considerate to my family, because they're going to need it and they didn't have anything to do with this. They need prayers and it's me, not them." Crain is accused of taking photos or videos of girls, in many cases with either their breasts or genitals exposed. A concerned Shawnee, Oklahoma, parent contacted police in mid-November after she became aware of contact the teacher had with students at her home, Simmonds said. Crain had invited the students to her home for a pizza party, according to a Shawnee police probable cause affidavit. A parent said her daughter told her that Crain took photos of the girls, dressed in bras and panties she provided, while decorating a Christmas tree, the affidavit states. The underwear had Christmas themes with words like "Ho! Ho!" on them, the affidavit states. According to witnesses cited in the affidavit, Crain also would hold up a sheet in the corner of the classroom and have the girls strip down to their bras and panties. The teacher allegedly took photos of the girls, telling them "Uncle G" is going to want to see these pictures." The affidavit states the FBI found numerous sexual chats between Crain and Doby on Crain's personal laptop computer. An FBI agent said that in some chats, Doby identified some of the students by name and described how "he liked the features of their private parts and indicated that he wanted to see them nude. Within the recovered chats, Doby instructed Crain to get the girls to cooperate." Another parent said she learned from her daughter that a hidden camera or video camera in Crain's home captured images of the girls changing into T-shirts and panties. McLoud Public Schools said it is cooperating with law enforcement agencies. "As you now know, the Pottawatomie County District Attorney's office was in the midst of conducting an intense and in-depth investigation; therefore, we complied with its request to not release any information which would in any way jeopardize the investigation, and ultimately, an additional arrest," the schools said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Bloomsburg University told CNN Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV that Doby retired in 2008. CNN's Jake Carpenter, Jeremy Ryan, Nick Valencia and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.

Former teacher accused of taking lewd photos of young Oklahoma girls . Kimberly Ann Crain is accused of sending them to a retired professor in Pennsylvania . Crain and Gary Joseph Doby face multiple criminal counts in Oklahoma . "Be kind and considerate to my family," Doby says after arraignment .

(CNN) -- A fourth man was charged Tuesday with murder in the shooting death of University of Memphis football player Taylor Bradford, Memphis police said. Devin Jefferson, 21, planned the armed robbery of Bradford because he thought the football player was carrying a large amount of cash, police said. "He was the brain trust on this one, he was the one that got the information that Taylor had cash," Sgt. Vince Higgins said. "Taylor and Jefferson knew each other. They had a girlfriend in common so there was some history there." Police investigating a car crash on September 30 found Bradford, 21, fatally wounded near the campus residence hall area. He had apparently gotten into his car after he was shot and drove a short distance before crashing into a tree. The 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman from Nashville was taken to Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. DaeShawn Tate, 21, Victor Trezevant, 21, and Courtney Washington, 22, have been charged with murder in perpetration of attempted aggravated robbery, Memphis Police Department Director Larry Godwin said Monday. Homicide investigators developed their case with the help of a citizen's tip and from Crimestoppers, Godwin said. "It was an attempted robbery, aggravated robbery," he said. "He [Bradford] was targeted because of some information that was out there and the fact that they believed he had some cash, or he had something that they wanted." Officials at the 21,000-student school said Bradford, a marketing major who lived on campus, was popular with the football team and on the campus. He had transferred from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and was 36 credit hours short of graduation. E-mail to a friend

Devin Jefferson, 21, charged with murder in shooting death of football player . University of Memphis athlete Taylor Bradford, 21, found dead September 30 . Three others in custody; police say Jefferson was the "brain trust" behind crime . After player was shot, he got in his car, drove off and then crashed into a tree .

(CNN) -- A freak fall snow storm slammed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, leaving three people dead, more than 2 million households without power and thousands of air travelers stranded. An 84-year-old man was napping in a recliner at his home in Temple, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon when part of a large, snow-filled tree fell into his house and killed him "instantly," according to a state police report. With numerous downed trees in the area, rescue crews took two hours to "safely remove the victim." Another person died while driving in Hebron, Connecticut, state emergency spokesman Scott Devico said. A third person was killed in Springfield, Massachusetts, when a man in his 20s ignored police barricades surrounding downed power lines and touched a metal guard rail, which was charged, said city fire department spokesman Dennis Legere. Predicting the system could dump as much as 18 inches of snow in some spots, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in issuing emergency declarations for their respective states. "It's like a blizzard, you can't see far at all," CNN iReporter Alban Ajro, 32, said Saturday night from Watertown, Connecticut. "This is the first time that I can ever recall this kind of storm happening before Halloween." All domestic flights out of New Jersey's Newark International Airport were canceled around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to an announcement made at the airport. Frustrated passengers filled an array of long lines, trying to change their tickets in light of the storm. Overheard: Storm sparks discussion about new grid Another airport in the Garden State, Teterboro, closed just after 2 p.m. before reopening hours later, the Federal Aviation Administration reported on its website. The FAA also reported major delays of, at times, over 5 hours at New York's two airports, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia. Richard Roth, a CNN correspondent, was among those affected when his Syracuse-to-Kennedy flight was diverted to Hartford because of the storm. He sat with his fellow passengers on the runway at Bradley International Airport for about four and a half hours, and -- roughly eight hours after arriving -- he was still stuck in the terminal. "We're here in the dark now," Roth said Saturday evening. "There's no hope, at the moment, in sight." The Connecticut governor acknowledged that conditions "are not very pleasant" at Bradley, where 23 flights have been diverted. He added, "They're trying to get people off their planes as rapidly as they can." The early season snowstorm was the result of unseasonably cold air mixing with a storm system on the East Coast. iReport: Winter weather near you As of 8 p.m., the storm had already dumped 10 inches of snow in places as far afield as Ridgefield, Connecticut; Ogletown, Pennsylvania; and Terra Alta, West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of New York and New Jersey especially got buried, including 15.5 inches in West Milford, New Jersey, and 12 inches in Harriman, New York. Lesser, albeit still significant amounts were measured in other locales around the northeast, including 1.3 inches of snow in New York's Central Park as of 8 p.m. -- the most ever for this date since record-keeping began in 1869. Snow continued to fall Saturday night as the system moved over New England. The storm's timing made it unique and caught some off-guard. "We're used to a lot of snow here, but not this early," CNN iReporter Michael Majosky, 34, said from Windber, Pennsylvania. "We don't mind the snow -- it's pretty neat having it around Halloween." Winter storm warnings were in effect Saturday evening for a swath of states, from Pennsylvania to eastern Maine. Along with heavy snow, high winds gusting up to 50 mph were possible. Forecasters' predictions of power outages and downed trees in some areas bore fruit, as

NEW: The number of those without power in New Jersey and New York rises . Massachusetts reports storm-related fatality, bringing total to 3 across the northeast . The National Weather Service reports 15 inches of snow in one New Jersey town . Thousands of air travelers are affected, many in the New York area .

(CNN) -- A friend of an elderly Arkansas couple has been charged with forcing the wife to try to rob a bank with a fake explosive device, police said Thursday. Authorities in Fayetteville arrested 60-year-old Paul Bradley on Thursday, three days after 73-year-old Betty Davis walked into a bank there and told a teller she had a bomb fastened to her ankle. Her husband, Dean Davis, said he has known Bradley for some time. "I had coffee with him all last week," said Davis, whom police said had been tied up in the couple's home while his wife was forced to go to the bank by a masked assailant. "One morning he paid for my coffee, and I'd like to see him and pay him that back." Bradley has been charged with aggravated burglary, theft of property, aggravated robbery and kidnapping, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder told reporters. He said Bradley strapped the phony bomb onto Betty Davis and took her to the bank to force her to withdraw money from her account. Once inside, she told a teller about the plot and that she had been followed to the Arvest Bank branch. "I felt like I needed to get out of that bank and get everyone out of danger," Betty Davis said. "If he did what he said he was going to do, he would blow it up and hurt all those people." After Betty Davis talked to police, they went to the couple's home and found Dean Davis tied up, police said. The assailant wore a mask and said little, so the couple was unable to identify their attacker at first. "I would have never imagined that of him and never thought he would do something like that," Dean Davis said. Helder said that authorities "couldn't have had better victims than the Davises." "They were very calm and collected, and she helped us identify the vehicle," he said. The FBI assisted in the investigation, Fayetteville police spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said. Police expect to bring additional charges against Bradley, including extortion, he said. In March 2011 Bradley received a suspended sentence for his involvement in a scheme to defraud local residents of thousands of dollars, Helder said.

Police say Paul Bradley forced a friend's wife to attempt a bank robbery . "I had coffee with him all last week," her husband said . The woman told tellers she had a bomb strapped to her ankle when she went in . Their assailant wore a mask and said little, so they were unable to identify their attacker at first .

(CNN) -- A giant panda at the San Diego Zoo gave birth to a cub the size of a stick of butter on Wednesday, her fifth cub born in the zoo since 1999. The public can view live video of the cub and its mother, Bai Yun, on the zoo's Web site. The sex of the mostly hairless, pink newborn, which was born around 5 a.m., is not known yet, said Dr. Ron Swaisgood of the zoo's Institute of Conservation Research. It will take about one month for the iconic black-and-white coloration of the giant panda to become visible, Swaisgood said. Its mother, Bai Yun, will care for the newborn by herself until she starts leaving the den regularly, at which time members of the zoo's giant panda team will step in briefly to check on the cub, he said. "She is a very experienced mother. She raised all of her other cubs until about 1.5 years, the natural age for separation," Swaisgood told CNN Radio. "She's a real pro." Weighing in around 300 pounds, Bai Yun is about 1,000 times the size of her cub, who weighs around 4 ounces., the typical size of a baby panda, Swaisgood said. "Pandas give birth to what's called very 'altricial' cubs. That means they are very small and fragile. This cub would probably weigh about 4 ounces. It would be pink and hairless and completely dependent on the mother," he said. The birth is considered a success for the zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, which works with research and breeding centers around the world to boost the endangered panda population Herself a model of that effort, Bai Yun was the first panda to be born and survive at the breeding center of the China Center for Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve in 1991. She has given birth to four other cubs since arriving at the San Diego Zoo in 1996 from China. Two of them have since been returned to China, Swaisgood said. The newborn's father, Gao Gao, is a wild-born giant panda that arrived at the San Diego Zoo in 2003 from the Wolong Nature Reserve. He will not be involved in raising the cub. The cub will remain in the den with its mother for a few months and gradually start to come out as soon as it is able to walk, Swaisgood said. In four to five months, the cub will be ready for the public, Swaisgood said. Until then, the public can view live video of the cub and its mother on the zoo's Web site. "This highly endangered species still requires a lot of attention and assistance, but there is hope for the future," he said.

Giant panda Bai Yun gives birth to fifth cub at the San Diego Zoo . Bai Yun will care for the newborn by herself with zoo staff occasionally checking in . Weighing around 300 pounds, Bai Yun is about 1,000 times the size of the cub .

(CNN) -- A girl who was shown on a videotape being sexually assaulted in Las Vegas has been found and is safe, officials in Nye County, Nevada, said Friday. Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, is being sought as a suspect, police say. "We have found the child, Madison. She's safe. The detectives say she is in good condition," Nye County Sheriff Tony De Meo said. The girl, now 7, was shown in a sex video made four years ago, Detective David Boruchowitz said at a news conference Friday night. She was found Friday with family in Las Vegas after thousands of tips poured in, thanks to an appeal by police to the news media to show the girl's picture. CNN and other news organizations did so until the child was found, when De Meo asked them to stop showing the picture. "The mother has cooperated with us," De Meo said. "We believe that the mother was not aware of anything that went on with this young girl," he said. "It was very sad for her to find this out." A former Las Vegas animal trainer, Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, a resident of Pahrump, Nevada, has been identified as a suspect and is being sought in the case, De Meo said. Pahrump is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. Watch what's known about Stiles » Stiles was a distant friend of the girl's family, De Meo said. Someone close to Stiles has told investigators that Stiles is a "survivalist type" and always carries a weapon, Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said. De Meo addressed Stiles directly: "Turn yourself in to your local law enforcement agency," he said. "Understand this: Law enforcement not only has a long arm, but a long memory. You will not be forgotten by members of this agency or any other law enforcement agency." The FBI is also seeking Stiles on state charges of sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under the age of 14 in a separate matter, De Meo said. Police, who had called Stiles a person of interest, began calling him a suspect late Friday. There appeared to be physical similarities between Stiles and the man in the videotape, De Meo said. "Nothing that I have seen in my career comes close to what this girl has gone through. Whoever this person is is a predator that, as far as I'm concerned, belongs in custody and, if successfully prosecuted, in jail for as long as the law allows," De Meo said earlier. Detectives said the child showed little emotion during the rapes, indicating she may have been brutalized before. Nevadan Darren Tuck recently gave police the videotape, saying he found it in the desert, De Meo said. Police said the tape was in his possession at least since May before he handed it over to authorities. He is being sought on a parole violation for failure to pay child support, but police -- who want to question him further -- have been unable to locate him. Tuck, who also allegedly showed the tape to others before giving it to police, faces a possible 10-years-to-life sentence for exhibiting pornography and another one to six years for possession of child pornography, De Meo said. Harry Kuehn, Tuck's attorney, said this week on CNN's "Nancy Grace" that Tuck was "racked by indecision" about what to do with the tape once he realized what it was. Asked why, Kuehn said, "He's explained that to us, and at this point, we're not going to share that, because it goes to the defense of the matter." "You have to consider what kind of concerns my client had; He's previously dealt with the sheriff's office in Nye County; it was previously unsatisfactory," the attorney said. E-mail to a friend

Stiles described as "survivalist type" who carries a weapon . Mother has cooperated with police, sheriff says . Girl on tape, now 7, found safe with family . Tape shows man sexually abusing the girl 4 years ago .

(CNN) -- A girl who was shown on a videotape being sexually assaulted in Las Vegas has been found and is safe, officials in Nye County, Nevada, said Friday. Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, is being sought as a suspect, police say. "We have found the child, Madison. She's safe. The detectives say she is in good condition," Nye County Sheriff Tony De Meo said. The girl, now 7, was shown in a sex video made four years ago, Detective David Boruchowitz said at a news conference Friday night. She was found Friday with family in Las Vegas after thousands of tips poured in, thanks to an appeal by police to the news media to show the girl's picture. CNN and other news organizations did so until the child was found, when De Meo asked them to stop showing the picture. "The mother has cooperated with us," De Meo said. "We believe that the mother was not aware of anything that went on with this young girl," he said. "It was very sad for her to find this out." A former Las Vegas animal trainer, Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, a resident of Pahrump, Nevada, has been identified as a suspect and is being sought in the case, De Meo said. Pahrump is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. Watch what's known about Stiles » Stiles was a distant friend of the girl's family, De Meo said. Someone close to Stiles has told investigators that Stiles is a "survivalist type" and always carries a weapon, Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said. De Meo addressed Stiles directly: "Turn yourself in to your local law enforcement agency," he said. "Understand this: Law enforcement not only has a long arm, but a long memory. You will not be forgotten by members of this agency or any other law enforcement agency." The FBI is also seeking Stiles on state charges of sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under the age of 14 in a separate matter, De Meo said. Police, who had called Stiles a person of interest, began calling him a suspect late Friday. There appeared to be physical similarities between Stiles and the man in the videotape, De Meo said. "Nothing that I have seen in my career comes close to what this girl has gone through. Whoever this person is is a predator that, as far as I'm concerned, belongs in custody and, if successfully prosecuted, in jail for as long as the law allows," De Meo said earlier. Detectives said the child showed little emotion during the rapes, indicating she may have been brutalized before. Nevadan Darren Tuck recently gave police the videotape, saying he found it in the desert, De Meo said. Police said the tape was in his possession at least since May before he handed it over to authorities. He is being sought on a parole violation for failure to pay child support, but police -- who want to question him further -- have been unable to locate him. Tuck, who also allegedly showed the tape to others before giving it to police, faces a possible 10-years-to-life sentence for exhibiting pornography and another one to six years for possession of child pornography, De Meo said. Harry Kuehn, Tuck's attorney, said this week on CNN's "Nancy Grace" that Tuck was "racked by indecision" about what to do with the tape once he realized what it was. Asked why, Kuehn said, "He's explained that to us, and at this point, we're not going to share that, because it goes to the defense of the matter." "You have to consider what kind of concerns my client had; He's previously dealt with the sheriff's office in Nye County; it was previously unsatisfactory," the attorney said. E-mail to a friend

Stiles described as "survivalist type" who carries a weapon . Mother has cooperated with police, sheriff says . Girl on tape, now 7, found safe with family . Tape shows man sexually abusing the girl 4 years ago .

(CNN) -- A global commodities trading company says it is considering a settlement to legal claims that it is responsible for the deaths of 15 people and thousands of illnesses after 500 tons of toxic waste were dumped in the African nation of Ivory Coast. Signs such as this were still up in "toxic zones" around Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a year after the waste dumping. The Dutch company Trafigura said studies by 20 experts it has hired conclude that the chemicals did not harm anyone. "In view of that expert evidence, and the fact that claims are not being made in this litigation for deaths, miscarriages, still births, birth defects and other serious injuries, the parties are exploring the possibility of compromising the claims which have been made," Trafigura said in a release Wednesday. "A global settlement is being considered by the parties and it currently appears that this settlement is likely to be acceptable to most, if not all, of the claimants." A United Nations report also released Wednesday said Trafigura did cause death and injury when the cargo ship Probo Koala dumped 500 tons of toxic waste belonging to the company at sites around Abidjan, the West African nation's largest city. The incident happened in August 2006. "According to official estimates, 15 people died, 69 people were hospitalized and over 100,000 others, complaining of nausea and vomiting after inhaling fumes, sought medical treatment after the incident," said the report by Okechukwu Ibeanu, an unpaid investigator for the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council. "We still don't know -- and we may never know -- the full effect of the dumping. But there seems to be strong prima facie evidence that the reported deaths and adverse health consequences are related to the dumping of the waste." Ibeanu, who visited Ivory Coast and the Netherlands during his investigation, urged all parties to take steps "to address possible long-term human health and environmental effects of the incident." According to a U.N. statement, Ibeanu said last month that the areas where the toxic waste was dumped still have not been decontaminated and continue to threaten residents' health. Many people, he said, are still reporting headaches, skin lesions, digestive difficulties and nose, throat and lung problems. Trafigura noted in its release Wednesday that it initiated a plan two years ago that would compensate, without any admission of liability, any claimants who could demonstrate any injury caused by exposure to the waste, which the company calls "slops." "The company has always maintained that the Probo Koala's slops could not possibly have caused deaths and serious or long-term injuries," Trafigura said. "Independent expert witnesses firmly support Trafigura in this stance." Trafigura also maintains it "sought to comply with all relevant regulations and procedures concerning the offloading of the Probo Koala's slops in Abidjan." The company denies that the ship went to Ivory Coast solely to dump the toxic waste. "Trafigura has consistently stated that the Probo Koala was returning from a routine commercial voyage to deliver a gasoline cargo in Lagos, Nigeria, when it stopped in Abidjan," the company statement said. "Consequently, any suggestion that the vessel was sent to West Africa solely for the purpose of offloading its slops is entirely inaccurate." As one of the largest independent companies trading commodities, Trafigura has 1,900 employees in 42 nations, the company's Web site says. "We handle every element involved in the sourcing and trading of crude oil, petroleum products, renewable energies, metals, metal ores and concentrates for industrial consumers." the company says. Ivory Coast, a former French colony with a population of 20 million, is also known as Cote d'Ivoire.

Dutch firm Trafigura: Toxic dumping didn't harm anyone, according to experts . U.N. report: Fifteen people died, 69 were hospitalized, and thousands were treated . Toxic waste areas still have not been decontaminated, U.N. statement says .

(CNN) -- A grand jury has indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on a second sexual assault charge in connection with a probe of his Texas compound, prosecutors said Wednesday. The charge against Warren Jeffs stems from a probe into his sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado, Texas. The Schleicher County, Texas, grand jury charged Jeffs, who already could be sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a different charge in Utah, with a first-degree felony count of aggravated sexual assault. The indictment is Jeffs' second in Schleicher County. In July, he was charged with sexually assaulting a child under 17. Grand jurors have also indicted three more members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prosecutors said Wednesday. One member faces a count of conducting the unlawful marriage of a minor, another faces three counts of bigamy and a third faces three counts of bigamy and one count of tampering with evidence. The Texas charges stem from a state and federal investigation into the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, about 190 miles northwest of San Antonio. In April, child welfare workers removed more than 400 children from the compound, citing allegations of physical and sexual abuse. After a court battle, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the children returned in June, saying the state had no right to remove them and there was no evidence to show the children faced imminent danger of abuse on the ranch. To date, 12 people associated with the compound have been indicted as part of the investigation, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. Jeffs, 52, is the leader and "prophet" of the estimated 10,000-member FLDS, an offshoot of the mainstream Mormon church. The FLDS openly practices polygamy at the YFZ Ranch, as well as in two towns straddling the Utah-Arizona state line -- Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. In Utah, Jeffs was convicted on accomplice to rape charges for his role in the marriage of a sect member to a 14-year-old. He is awaiting trial in Arizona, where he faces similar charges. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison for the Utah conviction, and he also could face another life term if convicted of the Texas charges. His attorney in Arizona, Michael Piccarreta, has questioned the motives of Texas authorities, telling CNN in a July interview that the state's investigation into Jeffs and his followers is an effort "to cover themselves up on the botched attack on the ranch in Texas."

Warren Jeffs indicted on second Texas sexual assault charge in four months . Grand jury also indicts three other members of polygamous sect . Charges stem from probe of sect's ranch outside Eldorado, Texas . Jeffs convicted in Utah of accomplice to rape for role in member's marriage to teen .

(CNN) -- A grandfather who perished in a Christmas day fire at a Connecticut home died from blunt-force head and neck trauma as well as smoke inhalation, while his wife and their three grandchildren died from smoke inhalation, the state medical examiner's office said Wednesday. Authorities said on Tuesday that Lomer Johnson fell through roof rafters outside a window. One of the children's bodies was found just inside the window. It appeared Johnson was trying to get the child out, but died after climbing through the window, said Stamford, Connecticut, Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte. The medical examiner's office said Wednesday Johnson suffered from smoke inhalation in addition to trauma from the fall. Three young sisters -- a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins -- died in the fire along with the Johnsons. The girls' mother, Madonna Badger, and a friend escaped the blaze. The fire, which broke out about 5 a.m. Sunday morning in the three-story Victorian home, is believed to have been caused by smoldering embers removed from a fireplace about two hours before and taken to an area in the rear of the house, Stamford Chief Fire Marshal Barry Callahan said. The city of Stamford razed the three-story home on Monday after determining it was unsafe. The million-dollar home in the wealthy Shippan Point neighborhood was under renovation. All that was left of it was the mailbox, around which grieving neighbors placed flowers. CNN affiliate WFSB reported that Badger attempted to climb the renovation scaffolding outside the home in an apparent attempt to reach her family. Witnesses said they heard her screaming that her whole life was inside the home, the station said. Intense flames and heat pushed back firefighters searching for the trapped family members, Conte told reporters on Tuesday. The investigation into the fire continues, officials said. "It's going to take a while," Conte said. "That poor woman lost her entire family in one fell swoop." Badger, a New York advertising executive, purchased the Connecticut home for $1.7 million in December 2010, according to property records. Johnson worked as a Santa at Saks Fifth Avenue's Manhattan store this holiday season, the department store said. He and his wife would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary on Monday, according to WFSB. Authorities said Tuesday it was unclear whether the home had working smoke detectors. CNN's Ronni Berke contributed to this report.

Two grandparents and their 3 grandchildren died in the blaze . Lomer Johnson fell through roof rafters while apparently trying to get a child out . The fire is thought to have been caused by smoldering fireplace embers .

(CNN) -- A grizzly bear attacked and killed a hunter Friday in a remote part of northwestern Montana before being gunned down itself, authorities said. The man who was killed had been part of a hunting party of three men, said Mike Weland, a spokesman for Boundary County, Idaho, which borders Canada and abuts the area where the attack took place. By the time the other two hunters -- one of whom witnessed the attack -- arrived on the site, the man was dead, Weland said. One of the victim's hunting partners eventually shot and killed the grizzly, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities received a cell phone call about 10 a.m. reporting the incident near Buckhorn Mountain, the sheriff's office said. Officials from multiple government agencies were at the site by Friday evening, Weland added a short time later in an e-mail to reporters. At that point, authorities determined that the incident -- initially believed to have happened in northern Idaho -- actually occurred on the Montana side of Buckhorn Mountain, according to Weland. Boundary County sheriff deputies remain on site, but jurisdiction was being transferred to authorities from Lincoln County, Montana. Weland said earlier Friday that authorities were talking with the two survivors and could see the attack site from a distance as they climbed. The sheriff's offices, the Idaho Fish and Game Department, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating. The name of the victim, who was not from Boundary County, was not being released until authorities could notify his next of kin. The incident follows a series of bear attacks in recent months in the United States. Two men were killed this summer in Yellowstone National Park by grizzly bears, Park Superintendent Dan Wenk said. In August, a lone 50-year-old man was bit by a grizzly bear in Montana's Glacier National Park but was able to continue hiking until he found help, the National Park Service said. And earlier this month, two young campers were injured when they were attacked by a black bear at Stokes State Forest in northwestern New Jersey, the state's Department of Environmental Protection said. CNN's Anna Rhett Miller contributed to this report.

NEW: The attack was on the Montana side of Buckhorn Mountain, an Idaho official says . A man was hunting near the Canadian border when a bear attacked him, an official says . By the time the two others in his hunting party arrived, the man was dead, they say . One of those hunters shot and killed the grizzly bear, they say .

(CNN) -- A group claiming to be the Indonesian arm of the al Qaeda terrorist network is purportedly taking responsibility for a pair of deadly bombs that exploded within minutes of each other at two luxury hotels in Jakarta. The JW Marriott in Jakarta, Indonesia, which was bombed July 17, is guarded Wednesday. The July 17 blasts at Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels killed nine people, including at least two presumed suicide bombers, and wounded more than 50. On Wednesday, Noordin M. Top -- the suspected leader of a small splinter group of the militant Jemaah Islamiyah, which has ties to al Qaeda -- purportedly issued statements claiming responsibility for the attacks on behalf of "al Qaeda in Indonesia." Top purportedly signed the statements posted on radical Islamist Web sites as the head of al Qaeda in Indonesia. CNN could not independently authenticate the statements. One of the statements says the Ritz-Carlton attack was carried out by "one of our mujahedeen warriors against the American lackeys and stooges visiting the hotel." "God has given us a blessing for us to find a way to attack the biggest hotel that America owns in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta -- the Ritz-Carlton, where security was very tight making it very difficult to initiate the attack that we did," the statement says. The statement mentions members of Britain's Manchester United soccer team, which had been scheduled to check into the Ritz-Carlton on July 19 but canceled its trip after the bombing. "Those players are Christians and therefore do not deserve Muslims' money and respect," the statement says. The other statement addressed the Marriott attack. It claims that the target in that bombing was Americans with ties to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, known as Kadin. Police say a third bomb had been planted in an 18th floor room of the Marriott two days before the other two bombs exploded. The unexploded bomb -- which was timed to detonate on the upper floor before the first blast tore through the Marriott's lobby area at 7:47 a.m. -- was found and defused, police said.

Group claiming to be "al Qaeda in Indonesia" purportedly claims responsibility . Bombs at two Jakarta hotels killed nine people, including two presumed bombers . "American lackeys and stooges" were targets, statement says .

(CNN) -- A group of native Hawaiians occupied the grounds of the old Hawaiian monarchy's royal residence Wednesday, vowing to stay and do the business of the kingdom's government. "It is through a greater realm than ours" that the group took this action, said Mahealani Kahau, elected leader of the group, called Hawaiian Kingdom Government. "Today and every day, we will be here to assume our role." The group is one of several in Hawaii that reject statehood and seek to return to the constitutional monarchy that effectively ended in 1893 when a group of politicians, businessmen and sugar planters -- aided by the U.S. minister to Hawaii -- overthrew the kingdom's government. The monarchist groups say the kingdom was overthrown and annexed into the United States illegally. Hawaii's office of the attorney general did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday's action. The staff of Iolani Palace, built in 1882 and now operated as a museum, shut down the building to visitors. The 60 or so protesters occupied the grounds, chaining the gates and stationing guards there to explain to visitors the purpose of the action. The group later reopened the gates, but remained on the grounds and the building was kept closed. "It saddens my heart to have to turn away visitors," said palace staff member Cindy Ascencio, who added that although she is a native Hawaiian, she does not understand the actions of the group. Ascencio also said the group appeared peaceful and she was not concerned about security. Jose Carrion, a visitor to Hawaii from Puerto Rico, told Honolulu's KHON-TV that he was disappointed he wouldn't be able to visit the ornate palace and "learn about the culture of the Hawaiians." "We wanted to come here precisely because we thought we'd learn something about the history of Hawaii and the last queen and the monarchy," said Carrion, who said he had reservations for the visit. "But we're leaving tomorrow, so we won't get to see the palace." Carrion also said he "kind of understood" the actions of the group. Puerto Rico and Hawaii, along with Guam and the Philippines, were annexed into the United States in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. Guam and Puerto Rico remain territories of the United States. The Philippines gained independence after World War II, and Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959. Although the monarchy was not overthrown until 1893, its fate effectively was sealed six years earlier when the same group that forced the overthrow imposed a new constitution on King David Kalakaua, who was forced to sign it under threat of arms. The document dramatically reduced the authority of the monarchy and instituted voter requirements that limited voting to wealthy businessmen and Hawaiian landowners, barring 75 percent of the native Hawaiian population and all Asians. When Queen Lili'uokalani ascended the throne after the death of her brother in 1891, she began work on a new constitution that would have effectively reversed the 1887 document. With the help of John L. Stevens, the U.S. minister to Hawaii, the elite group that had changed the constitution in 1887 opposed the queen's actions. Two years later, under threat of U.S. troops, she yielded her authority, saying, "Until such time as the government of the United States shall ... undo the action of its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands." The queen was later imprisoned in Iolani Palace for eight months for her participation in an attempted 1895 revolt, until she relinquished her claim to the throne in return for her release. She died in 1917 at 79. In 1993, the U.S. Congress approved, and President Bill Clinton signed, an apology to the people of the Hawaiian islands. The document "acknowledges that the overthrow of the kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the kingdom of

Group does not recognize Hawaii as a U.S. state . Palace used by rulers of Hawaiian kingdom; now a tourist attraction . Peaceful protesters eventually unlock gates, leave grounds . Protesters vow to return Thursday morning .

(CNN) -- A group of native Hawaiians occupied the grounds of the old Hawaiian monarchy's royal residence Wednesday, vowing to stay and do the business of the kingdom's government. A member of the protest group Hawaiian Kingdom Government unlocks the palace gate. "It is through a greater realm than ours" that the group took this action, said Mahealani Kahau, elected leader of the group, called Hawaiian Kingdom Government. "Today and every day, we will be here to assume our role." Group members left the palace grounds Wednesday afternoon, but vowed to return Thursday morning, The Honolulu Advertiser reported. "We'll be here at 6 o'clock in the morning," Kahau told the newspaper. The group is one of several in Hawaii that reject statehood and seek to return to the constitutional monarchy that effectively ended in 1893 when a group of politicians, businessmen and sugar planters -- aided by the U.S. minister to Hawaii -- overthrew the kingdom's government. The monarchist groups say that the kingdom was overthrown and annexed into the United States illegally. Hawaii's office of the attorney general did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday's action. The staff of Iolani Palace, built in 1882 and now operated as a museum, shut down the building to visitors. The 60 or so protesters occupied the grounds, chaining the gates and stationing guards there to explain to visitors the purpose of the action. The group later reopened the gates, but remained on the grounds and the building was kept closed. "It saddens my heart to have to turn away visitors," said palace staff member Cindy Ascencio, who added that although she, too, is a native Hawaiian, she does not understand the actions of the group. Ascencio also said that the group appeared peaceful and she was not concerned about security. Jose Carrion, a visitor to Hawaii from Puerto Rico, told Honolulu's KHON-TV that he was "disappointed" he wouldn't be able to visit the ornate palace and "learn about the culture of the Hawaiians." "We wanted to come here precisely because we thought we'd learn something about the history of Hawaii and the last queen and the monarchy," said Carrion, who said he had reservations for the visit. "But we're leaving tomorrow so we won't get to see the palace." But Carrion also said he "kind of understood" the actions of the group. Puerto Rico and Hawaii, along with Guam and the Philippines, were annexed into the United States in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. Guam and Puerto Rico remain territories of the United States. The Philippines gained independence after World War II, and Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959. Although the monarchy was not overthrown until 1893, its fate effectively was sealed six years earlier when the same group that forced the overthrow imposed a new constitution on King David Kalakaua, who was forced to sign it under threat of arms. The document dramatically reduced the authority of the monarchy and instituted voter requirements that limited voting to wealthy businessmen and Hawaiian landowners, barring 75 percent of the native Hawaiian population and all Asians. When Queen Lili'uokalani ascended the throne after the death of her brother in 1891, she began work on a new constitution that would have effectively reversed the 1887 document. With the help of John L. Stevens, the U.S. minister to Hawaii, the elite group that had changed the constitution in 1887 opposed the queen's actions. Two years later, under threat of U.S. troops, she yielded her authority, saying, "Until such time as the Government of the United States shall ... undo the action of its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands." The queen was later imprisoned in Iolani Palace for eight months for her participation in an attempted 1895 revolt, until she relinquished her claim to the throne in return for her release. She died in 1917 at 79. In 1993, the U.S. Congress approved, and President Clinton signed, an apology to the people of the

Group does not recognize Hawaii as a U.S. state . Palace used by rulers of Hawaiian kingdom; now a tourist attraction . Peaceful protesters eventually unlock gates, leave grounds . Protesters vow to return Thursday morning .

(CNN) -- A gunman carrying a variant of an AK-47 rifle opened fire on uniformed Nevada National Guard members having breakfast at a Carson City, Nevada, restaurant, killing two of them and injuring three, officials said Tuesday. A civilian woman in the line of fire also died and five others were injured in the mass shooting at an IHOP restaurant, officials said. The attacker died later of a self-inflicted wound. The FBI said there was no indication of terrorism. Authorities said they had not determined a clear motive. "To say that he was targeting before he came into the restaurant those military persons, we have not been able to establish," said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong. "Clearly, the fact that five of the 11 were military draws a concern by us." The suspected gunman was identified as Eduardo Sencion, 32, who lived in Carson City and worked at a family business in South Lake Tahoe, California, authorities said. "There was no indication he knew anyone in the restaurant," said Michael West, supervisory special agent with the FBI. Witnesses indicated Sencion said something while inside the IHOP, West said Sencion had no previous criminal record on file but his family indicated he may have had mental health issues, Furlong told reporters. He was at the family business Monday night and spent the night in Carson City, officials said. Family members reported "no unusual activity." The AK-47 was recovered and authorities will determine whether it was an automatic, Furlong said. An empty 30-round gun magazine and two other gun magazines were recovered. A pistol and assault rifle were found in or near a vehicle, the sheriff said. The shooting began shortly before 9 a.m., according to Furlong. When authorities arrived, those who called in the incident identified the shooting suspect as a man lying wounded in the parking lot between two vehicles. The suspect had continued firing in the parking lot after leaving the restaurant, Furlong said. One individual was wounded outside. Steven Martin, a witness, told CNN Reno affiliate KRNV that he ran to see if he could help after he heard shots being fired. "There was blood everywhere; broken glass everywhere. It was just a war zone down there," he said. A blue minivan registered to the suspect's brother was being studied, Furlong said. Chuck Allen with the Nevada Highway Patrol said officials were taking precautions in case military personnel were being targeted. "When you have people in uniform randomly targeted ... we take that seriously," Allen said. The shooting took place just a few miles from the Nevada National Guard state headquarters in Carson City. The two deceased Guard members were men. Two of the wounded Guard members were women. Guard spokeswoman Maj. April Conway said officials will "ensure we do everything possible to take care of our families and support our Guardsmen."

NEW: FBI says no indication of terrorism . Witness: "It was just a war zone down there" Three gun magazines are recovered at the scene . The suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities say .

(CNN) -- A head-banging parrot who became a YouTube sensation has demonstrated that an ability to appreciate music and keep a rhythm is not unique to humans, scientists say. Alex, an African grey parrot, was one of 14 birds which displayed an ability to keep time with a tune. Snowball the cockatoo, who appears to bop his head, tap his claws and squawk enthusiastically to the Back Street Boys' "Everybody" is one of several birds apparently capable of dancing to a beat, according to two studies published in the latest edition of the journal Current Biology. In a study lead by Adena Schachner of Harvard University, researchers examined more than 1,000 YouTube videos of dancing animals and found 14 types of parrot species and one elephant genuinely capable of keeping time. The video of Snowball has been viewed more than two million times since it was posted in 2007. Another video of Snowball shows him dancing to Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Watch Snowball the dancing parrot » Schachner analyzed the videos frame-by-frame, comparing the animals' movements with the speed of the music and the alignment of individual beats. The group also studied another bird, Alex, an African grey parrot, which had exhibited similar abilities to Snowball, nodding its head appreciatively to a series of drum tracks. "Our analyses showed that these birds' movements were more lined up with the musical beat than we'd expect by chance," says Schachner. "We found strong evidence that they were synchronizing with the beat, something that has not been seen before in other species." Aniruddh Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, who led another study of Snowball's performance, said that the bird had demonstrated an ability to adjust the tempo of his dancing to stay synchronized to the beat. Scientists had previously thought that "moving to a musical beat might be a uniquely human ability because animals are not commonly seen moving rhythmically in the wild," Patel said. Schachner said there was no evidence to suggest that animals such as apes, dogs or cats could recognize music, despite their extensive experience of humans. That leads researchers to believe that an ability to process musical sounds may be linked to an ability to mimic sounds -- something that each of the parrots studied by researchers was able to do excellently, she said. Other "vocal-learning species" include dolphins, elephants, seals and walruses. "A natural question about these results is whether they generalize to other parrots, or more broadly, to other vocal-learning species," Schachner said. Researchers believe a possible link between vocal mimicry and an ability to hear music may explain the development of music in human societies. "The question of why music is found in every known human culture is a longstanding puzzle. Many argue that it is an adaptive behaviour that helped our species to evolve. But equally plausible is the possibility that it emerged as a by-product of other abilities -- such as vocal learning," music psychologist Lauren Stewart of Goldsmiths, University of London told CNN. "Parrots and humans both have the ability to imitate sounds that they hear, unlike our closer simian relatives. Once a species has the neural machinery in place for coupling the perception and production of vocal sounds, it may be only a small step to use the same circuits for synchronizing movements to a beat."

Scientists: Dancing parrots prove ability to recognize music not unique to humans . YouTube hit Snowball the cockatoo dances to Back Street Boys, Queen . Ability to keep time apparently linked to vocal mimicry, scientists believe . Other animals capable of mimicry include dolphins, elephants, seals, walruses .

(CNN) -- A head-banging parrot who became a YouTube sensation has demonstrated that an ability to appreciate music and keep a rhythm is not unique to humans, scientists say. Alex, an African grey parrot, was one of 14 birds which displayed an ability to keep time with a tune. Snowball the cockatoo, who appears to bop his head, tap his claws and squawk enthusiastically to the Back Street Boys' "Everybody" is one of several birds apparently capable of dancing to a beat, according to two studies published in the latest edition of the journal Current Biology. In a study lead by Adena Schachner of Harvard University, researchers examined more than 1,000 YouTube videos of dancing animals and found 14 types of parrot species and one elephant genuinely capable of keeping time. The video of Snowball has been viewed more than two million times since it was posted in 2007. Another video of Snowball shows him dancing to Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Watch Snowball the dancing parrot » Schachner analyzed the videos frame-by-frame, comparing the animals' movements with the speed of the music and the alignment of individual beats. The group also studied another bird, Alex, an African grey parrot, which had exhibited similar abilities to Snowball, nodding its head appreciatively to a series of drum tracks. "Our analyses showed that these birds' movements were more lined up with the musical beat than we'd expect by chance," says Schachner. "We found strong evidence that they were synchronizing with the beat, something that has not been seen before in other species." Aniruddh Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, who led another study of Snowball's performance, said that the bird had demonstrated an ability to adjust the tempo of his dancing to stay synchronized to the beat. Scientists had previously thought that "moving to a musical beat might be a uniquely human ability because animals are not commonly seen moving rhythmically in the wild," Patel said. Schachner said there was no evidence to suggest that animals such as apes, dogs or cats could recognize music, despite their extensive experience of humans. That leads researchers to believe that an ability to process musical sounds may be linked to an ability to mimic sounds -- something that each of the parrots studied by researchers was able to do excellently, she said. Other "vocal-learning species" include dolphins, elephants, seals and walruses. "A natural question about these results is whether they generalize to other parrots, or more broadly, to other vocal-learning species," Schachner said. Researchers believe a possible link between vocal mimicry and an ability to hear music may explain the development of music in human societies. "The question of why music is found in every known human culture is a longstanding puzzle. Many argue that it is an adaptive behaviour that helped our species to evolve. But equally plausible is the possibility that it emerged as a by-product of other abilities -- such as vocal learning," music psychologist Lauren Stewart of Goldsmiths, University of London told CNN. "Parrots and humans both have the ability to imitate sounds that they hear, unlike our closer simian relatives. Once a species has the neural machinery in place for coupling the perception and production of vocal sounds, it may be only a small step to use the same circuits for synchronizing movements to a beat."

Scientists: Dancing parrots prove ability to recognize music not unique to humans . YouTube hit Snowball the cockatoo dances to Back Street Boys, Queen . Ability to keep time apparently linked to vocal mimicry, scientists believe . Other animals capable of mimicry include dolphins, elephants, seals, walruses .

(CNN) -- A high school dropout who stole the identity of a missing South Carolina woman and used it to gain admission to two Ivy League colleges has been arrested, police said Sunday. Esther Reed, who allegedly used a missing woman's ID to get into colleges, was arrested by U.S. Marshals. A fugitive for more than a year, Esther Reed was arrested Saturday by U.S. Marshals in suburban Chicago, said Clark Brazier, a spokesman for the police department in Traveler's Rest, South Carolina. Reed is scheduled to have a bond hearing this week in Illinois. South Carolina authorities are seeking to extradite her on charges of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. Reed assumed the identity of Brooke Henson, who was 20 years old when she disappeared more than eight years ago from Travelers Rest, investigators say. It's unclear how Reed obtained Henson's personal information, but Reed used Henson's identity to take the SAT and GED, and then applied to the schools, said Jon Campbell, a Travelers Rest Police Department investigator who spoke to CNN last year. Officials at Harvard University and Columbia University have acknowledged that a Brooke Henson was enrolled at their schools, but said privacy laws prevent them from discussing details. "There's a little relief that goes with [the news of Reed's arrest]," Brooke's aunt Lisa Henson told CNN Sunday. "But [Brooke] is still missing. I'd like to have some answers. I would love to see [Reed] and look her in the eye and say, 'You're a horrible person.' " Police say they're confident Reed was not involved in Henson's disappearance. Authorities believe Henson was killed by someone who knew her. However, no body has been found and no arrests have been made. Henson's family had heard nothing about their missing relative for years until the summer of 2006, when New York City authorities told police in Travelers Rest that they had found her, alive and well, in Manhattan. The police relayed that message to Henson's family. "I was jumping for joy," said Lisa Henson. "It was incredible." But the family's joy was short-lived when it was revealed that the woman found was actually Reed. An ex-boyfriend told CNN that Reed -- posing as Henson -- often bragged about being a world-class chess player who earned a living playing the game competitively. The man told CNN that he believed her until he challenged her to a game and beat her. Originally from the tiny town of Townsend, Montana, Reed had been reported missing by her family in 1999, around the same time that Henson disappeared. In high school in Montana, Reed earned poor grades. "Esther was the kind of kid who would have been invisible," her English teacher James Therriault said. "If you didn't take pains to notice her presence." E-mail to a friend CNN's Gary Tuchman and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.

Police: Esther Reed went missing the same time that Brooke Henson did . Reed assumed Henson's identity, took SAT and GED in her name, police say . Police believe Henson was killed but say Reed was not involved . Columbia University and Harvard confirmed that a Brooke Hanson was enrolled .

(CNN) -- A high school valedictorian's plans to study medicine at a California state university have run headlong into the federal government's attempts to return him and his family to Armenia. Arthur Mkoyan, 17, was 2 years old when his family came to the United States. "I haven't been in Armenia since I was 2, so I don't really know anything about the place," said Arthur Mkoyan, 17. "All I've seen is just videos my mom has watched on the Internet." Mkoyan's long-term plans were turned upside down one morning in April when two immigration officers arrived at the door of his family's house. "They took both of my parents, and they released my mom because she had to take care of us, since me and my brother are minors," he recalled. "But instead they took my dad away to a detention center in Arizona." Mkoyan, who has a grade-point average above 4.0 -- extra credit for Advanced Placement classes makes that possible -- is set to graduate next week from Bullard High School in Fresno, California. Watch students from Arthur's school talk about his case » Ten days later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to deport him and his family to the Armenian capital city of Yerevan, the same city his family fled in fear 16 years ago. Back then, Mkoyan's father, Ruben Mkoian (he and his son spell their last names differently), was a sergeant in an Armenian equivalent of a department of motor vehicles, according to a court document. "He was approached with a bribe to register stolen vehicles. He refused. A co-worker took the bribe. Mkoian reported the incident to the chief of the DMV, who told him to mind his own business," the document states. "Subsequently, he and his family were subjected to attacks he believed were attempts to silence him about corruption at the DMV." In what the family considers one such attempt, their house was set on fire in 1992. That led the father to send his family to Russia and then to the United States, Arthur Mkoyan said. They arrived in the United States in 1995 on six-month tourist visas, according to Virginia Kice, a public information officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The family settled in Fresno, where Mkoian worked as a truck driver and his wife worked in a jewelry store. They set about living their lives, which soon included a younger brother for Arthur. But after the visas expired, the family's application to remain in the United States was denied. In 2002, an immigration judge ruled that they had no legal basis to remain in the country, Kice said. After their application to the Board of Immigration Appeals was rejected, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year denied their petition for a hearing. The court was unpersuaded by the father's assertion that he might still be subject to reprisal if he were to return. "Mkoian's fear that Armenian officials would be unable or unwilling to protect him seems unfounded because he provided little evidence that they were unable or unwilling to protect him in the past," the appeals court said. To Kice, it's a simple matter of enforcing the law. "I would remind people that this family had ample access to due process," she said. "The case has been in litigation for more than 10 years. Immigration experts on every level determined that they had no legal basis to be in the United States." She noted that the government agreed to delay their deportation so Arthur can graduate with his class. Arthur's schoolmates at Bullard are shocked that his academic achievements haven't helped his case. "It's really hard to get good grades in this school," freshman Alex Stewart told affiliate KGPE. "It's a challenging school, so to get a 4.0, you really gotta try." Still, a longer-term reprieve remains possible, if unlikely. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California

Arthur Mkoyan, 17, and his family are set for deportation 10 days after graduation . The family says they left Armenia in 1992 fearing for their lives . Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the family has no legal basis to stay .

(CNN) -- A high-speed passenger train left its tracks on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, Friday, killing at least six people and injuring 45, according to Croatian police. The high-speed train derailed on the outskirts of Split, Croatia, about noon on Friday. The train was on its way from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, when it derailed about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from it's destination of Split about noon, said Marina Kraljevic-Gudelj, a spokeswoman for police in Split. "This is a huge tragedy, so there is no place for speculation," she said. Police had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

High-speed passenger train leaves its tracks on the outskirts of Split, Croatia . At least six people killed and 45 injured, according to police . The train was on its way from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, to Split .

(CNN) -- A huge aid effort is under way in a remote area of South Sudan to help an estimated 60,000 people who fled their homes to escape roaming fighters, the United Nations said. Some 6,000 armed men from the Lou Nuer tribe marched on an area of Jonglei state, which is home to the rival Murle tribe, attacking the town of Pibor last weekend. Although the Lou Nuer fighters have left, following negotiations with U.N. peacekeepers and the South Sudan authorities, help is urgently needed for those who fled, the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said Friday. The special representative for the U.N. Secretary-General in South Sudan, Hilda F. Johnson, is traveling to Pibor on Saturday to see the situation, UNMISS spokesman Kouider Zerrouk said. The South Sudan government has declared Jonglei a "humanitarian disaster area" and appealed for international help. Aid workers estimate that 60,000 people are in need of assistance and the U.N. World Food Programme voiced concern Friday that food shortages in the area "could reach crisis levels." It has already made emergency food deliveries. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said some of the people who fled into the bush to escape the fighters are starting to return to their homes, according to a statement. U.N planes are also trying to find other families still hiding out in the bush, she said. "But there are a number of villages that were burned completely to the ground, for example, Likuangole, and in that case people are not coming back and that's because there is nothing to come back to," she said. Ethnic tensions in Jonglei state have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights, leading to cattle raids and abduction of women and children. Government officials have urged the two ethnic groups to return women and children abducted in the spate of violence. The violence in Jonglei state is the latest to rock South Sudan, which officially gained its statehood in July after separating from neighboring Sudan to the north. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres is also in South Sudan this weekend, to see other areas affected by conflict. Among them will be a refugee site in Mabaan, where tens of thousands of refugees have sought help since fleeing fighting across the border in Sudan's Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States. U.N. flights have delivered thousands of tents, kitchen sets, blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and other essential items to Mabaan and another refugee camp at Malakal in the past two-and-a-half weeks. Decades of civil war between the north and south, costing as many as 2 million lives, ended with a U.S.-brokered peace treaty in 2005. But before South Sudan gained independence in July, human rights monitors expressed concerns that long-standing grievances could end in violence consuming the region again. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,100 people died and 63,000 were displaced last year by inter-communal violence in Jonglei state, not taking into account the latest clashes. U.S. President Barack Obama gave his approval Friday for the sale of weapons and defense services to South Sudan. The decision could open the door to South Sudan acquiring air defenses. It has accused Sudan of carrying out aerial bombardments on its territory. The White House condemned air raids by the Sudan Armed Forces on South Sudan in November, saying: "These provocative aerial bombardments greatly increase the potential for direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan. The memorandum sent by Obama Friday to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the "furnishing of defense articles and defense services to the Republic of South Sudan will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report.

Some 60,000 people in Jonglei state are in urgent need of help, the United Nations says . They fled their homes last week to escape thousands of armed men from another tribe . A senior U.N. official is visiting a town attacked by the fighters to assess the situation . Ethnic tension flares as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights .

(CNN) -- A humanitarian plane carrying 17 people -- most of them relief workers -- has crashed during a storm in a mountainous region in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said Tuesday. File image of a Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. Search and rescue crews were not immediately able to land their helicopter in the area and determine whether anyone survived the crash in the east of the country, said Christope Illemassene, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the capital city of Kinshasa. But Air Serv International, the relief group that operated the plane, said an aerial survey has indicated that all the occupants on the Beechcraft 1900 plane died. The plane was on a routine flight from Kinsasha to the eastern city of Goma on Monday, with three stops, Illemassene said. Air-traffic controllers lost contact with the plane when it approached Bukavu, the last of its three intermediate stops. The weather in the area was stormy at the time, Illemassene said. Search and rescue crews spotted the plane's debris Tuesday, about 9.4 miles (15 km) northwest of the Bukavu airport, Illemassene said. "We're anxiously waiting for results from the search and rescue operation," he said. "We're really hoping the peacekeepers are able to land near the site and confirm whether there are any survivors." Air Serv International, based in the U.S. state of Virginia, is one of several groups that provides transport services to relief organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Flight operators: Aerial survey indicates occupants on aircraft died . Search and rescue crews not able to land their helicopter in the area, U.N. says . Plane was on a routine flight from Kinsasha to the eastern city of Goma .

(CNN) -- A judge has ordered mediation in the case of a teen girl who says her family threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July. She claims her father threatened to kill her. The 17-year-old girl, Rifqa Bary, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July and took refuge in the home of the Rev. Blake Lorenz with the Global Revolution Church in Orlando, Florida. Bary's parents want her back home. At a court hearing Thursday in Orlando, the girl's parents denied all the allegations against them. Also at the hearing, Judge Daniel Dawson of the Orange County Juvenile Court ordered the girl and her parents to seek the mediation within 30 days. The judge had previously ruled that the girl will remain in Florida foster care until the allegations are resolved. The parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, could not attend the hearing in person but listened through a telephone conference as their lawyer spoke for them. They denied they ever threatened to kill their daughter because she converted to Christianity. Mohamed Bary told CNN he believes a lot of false information has been circulated about the case. "We wouldn't do her harm," the father said, adding that he knew his daughter was involved with Christian organizations. "I have no problem with her practicing any faith," he said. But Bary conceded he would have preferred that his daughter practice the Muslim faith first. The teen had heard of pastor Lorenz and his church through a prayer group on Facebook. The girl's parents reported her missing to Columbus police, who found her two weeks later in Florida through cell phone records. The teenager, in a sworn affidavit, claims her father, 47, was pressured by the mosque the family attends in Ohio to "deal with the situation." In the court filing, Rifqa Bary stated her father said, "If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!" The teenager claims her father added, "I will kill you!" Watch the teen talk about her fears » Also at Thursday's hearing, the judge sealed a report on the girl from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and issued a gag order for attorneys in the case. At one point during the hearing, the girl's court-appointed guardian, Krista Bartholomew, told the court: "This is not a holy war but a case about a broken family." Outside the courthouse after the hearing, a Muslim activist and several Christian activists exchanged words over the case. Watch the heated exchanges » Another hearing is scheduled for September 29 if the family is not able to resolve the conflict through mediation.

Teenager claims father threatened to kill her because she converted to Christianity . Parents of teen have denied all allegations against them . Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from Ohio home; took refuge in home of Christian pastor . Judge orders teen and her family to seek mediation within 30 days .

(CNN) -- A judge on Thursday denied a request for President Barack Obama to testify at a court martial for a U.S. Army flight surgeon who refused to deploy to Afghanistan until he saw proof that Obama was born in the United States. The judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, said any evidence or witnesses related to Obama's citizenship is irrelevant to the charges against Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, who has 17 years of service in the U.S. military. After failing to deploy with his unit in April, Lakin was charged with missing a movement, disobeying a lawful order and dereliction of duty. The Uniform Code of Military Justice says the maximum punishment for both offenses -- missing his plane and disobeying lawful orders -- is a dishonorable discharge and up to two years in confinement. A guilty verdict could also result in forfeiture of Lakin's pay, which totals $7,959 a month, according to a charge sheet provided by a group sponsoring his defense. Lakin's lawyers argued that all military orders stem from the commander-in-chief. Without evidence that Obama is eligible to be president, they say, the doctor's deployment order was illegal. In addition to putting Obama on their witness list, Lakin's lawyers had asked Lind to order Obama's official birth records from Hawaii be brought to court for trial. "If the president is ineligible, you need to know that," Lakin's civilian attorney, Paul Jensen, told Lind. "Col. Lakin needs to know that, the government needs to know that, America needs to know that." The prosecutors in the case argued that Obama's eligibility is not relevant because the officers who ordered Lakin to go to Fort Campbell and then ordered him to answer questions about why he didn't go were his proper superiors in the military chain of command, and they gave him legal orders. Jensen later conceded that point. The judge ruled that the matter of Obama's eligibility is not relevant because he did not give any orders in the case. She pointed out that while the president is commander-in-chief of the military, it is Congress that is constitutionally empowered to raise armies, pay them and equip them. Any contention that any orders are invalid if the president is ineligible "is erroneous," the judge said. Lind also said that military law says that a soldier's personal beliefs or convictions are not sufficient to allow that soldier to determine that an order is illegal. The soldier has to have "no rational doubt" that the order is illegal before he or she can ignore it. Finally she ruled that a military court martial is not the forum in which to determine a president's eligibility, because the Constitution says only Congress has the power to impeach and remove the president. Afterward, Jensen said he respected the judge's ruling, but called it distressing. "It completely deprives us of any opportunity to present a defense in this case," Jensen said. The court martial is set to begin in October, but Jensen said he's not giving up on the matter of Obama's eligibility. "We will be giving the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in the next week or two the opportunity to take up the issue, and we are going to fight on for justice to be served in this case." Lakin is among 27 percent of Americans who doubt or deny that Obama is American-born, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. They compose the birther movement, which demands that Obama present a birth certificate signed by the doctor who delivered him in 1961. CNN and other news organizations have thoroughly debunked the rumors about the president's birthplace. The Obama campaign released a copy of a birth record issued by the state in 2007, called a "certification of live birth," and allowed reporters to examine the document in person in 2008. Last year, Hawaiian state officials issued a statement that they had personally viewed the president's original Hawaiian birth record, called a "certificate of live birth," and verified it to be authentic. State law

Judge says Obama gave no orders . Defense attorney says he will appeal . Judge nixes president as a witness in court martial . Flight surgeon says Obama has not proved his citizenship, and orders to deploy are illegal .

(CNN) -- A judge ordered Tuesday that the man accused of killing singer and actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew be moved from a state prison to the Cook County jail to make it easier for his lawyer to meet with him. Jennifer Hudson, at the October premiere of "The Secret Life of Bees," hasn't performed in public since the killings. William Balfour, 27, has been held at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, Illinois, since he was arrested in early December in what defense lawyer Joshua Kutnick called "a difficult position." "[Balfour] has exhibited, to me, patience," Kutnick told CNN after Tuesday's hearing. "He understands that this case is not going to be over this week or next week or next month," Kutnick said. "He realizes in order for us to establish that he's not guilty, that we're going to have to go through all the steps of fighting the case." Kutnick said the defense is conducting its own investigation of the killings and has subpoenaed the prosecution's evidence. Nothing has been handed over yet, he said. He would not speculate on when the case might go to trial. "You're talking about some time down the road," Kutnick said. Balfour, indicted a month ago, entered a not guilty plea last week. Tuesday was the first time Balfour has been before Judge Marjorie Laws, who was appointed last week after prosecutors asked that Judge Evelyn Clay be removed from the case. Prosecutors did not make public their reasons for wanting a new judge. While Judge Laws ordered Balfour to be moved to Chicago, Kutnick said he expects it might just be for 10 days. "The sheriff of Cook County does not always obey those orders because he is dealing with his own problems such as jail overcrowding," Kutnick said. "He's doing OK" despite "being incarcerated under a difficult position," Kutnick said of Balfour. "When any inmate is serving a sentence on a parole violation, they're kept in what's called the receiving unit," Kutnick said. "It's very restrictive. They don't get the kind of free time and privileges that general population gets, so that is very difficult for him." Hudson has not performed in public since the deaths, but she is scheduled to sing the national anthem Sunday at the Super Bowl. Balfour first was detained for questioning October 24, the day that Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death. At the time, authorities said they were holding Balfour for an unspecified parole violation. Prosecutors have portrayed Balfour as a jealous man who killed three people in a rage at the thought that his estranged wife had a boyfriend. Balfour is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson, and stepfather of one of the victims, 7-year-old Julian King. He also has been charged with one count of home invasion. Balfour denies the charges, and his attorney told the court in December there was no forensic evidence linking him to the killings Hudson won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Effie in the 2006 film version of the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls." She competed on the third season of the TV singing competition "American Idol" and was among the top seven contestants before her elimination.

William Balfour has been at Illinois' Stateville Correctional Center since December . Judge orders Balfour moved to county jail to make attorney visits easier . Suspect charged in killings of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew . Hudson is set to sing national anthem at the Super Bowl .

(CNN) -- A judge ordered an ex-aide to former Sen. John Edwards on Friday to turn over a sex tape said to depict Edwards and his former mistress, an official in a North Carolina court said. Judge Abraham Penn Jones found former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, in civil contempt of court, said Tammy Keshler, a judicial assistant in Chatham County Superior Court. He ordered them to give the court the tape and other materials they may have by 2 p.m. Wednesday, she said. The judge said he could jail the Youngs if they do not comply, she said. The Youngs appeared in court in Pittsboro, about 35 miles west of Raleigh, North Carolina, to contest a temporary restraining order forbidding them from disseminating the videotape. The couple has said they possess "a video recording showing Senator Edwards engaged in sexual activities with a woman who, from all indications, is not his wife and who the Youngs believe to be Ms. Hunter, based upon her appearance," court documents say. The woman on the tape is visibly pregnant, the Youngs say. That means the video might not be the one specified in the restraining order, because Rielle Hunter, Edwards' former mistress, said that tape was created in September 2006, the Youngs say. "This means that, as a matter of human biology, Ms. Hunter would have given birth no later than June 2007," the Youngs say. Hunter was pregnant in 2007 and gave birth to Edwards' daughter Frances Quinn on February 27, 2008. In the court documents, the Youngs suggest that Hunter might have mistaken when the video was made. Even if that is the case, they say, Hunter abandoned the videotape in the trash at their home and made no effort to recover it until almost two years after she had left their home. Friday's court proceeding is the latest development in a saga involving one-time Democratic presidential hopeful Edwards. In January, he admitted that he had fathered a child with Hunter, a videographer who worked on his campaign. Edwards, 56, had publicly denied paternity for more than a year. About a week after his admission, Edwards confirmed reports that he had legally separated from his wife, Elizabeth. Those announcements came just before Andrew Young released an embarrassing book about the Edwardses and his campaign. In the book, Young portrays John Edwards as a cold, calculating and reckless politician willing to deny fathering a girl, risk his marriage and put the Democratic Party in potential political jeopardy, all in the name of pursuing the presidency. After Hunter became pregnant, Young says in the book, he agreed to the North Carolina senator's request to lie, allowed Hunter to live in his home and said he was the father, though Young was married with three children.

NEW: Senator's former aide has until 2 p.m. to turn over video . Andrew Young claims he has tape of Edwards having sex with pregnant woman . Edwards admitted fathering a child with mistress, has separated from wife Elizabeth .

(CNN) -- A jury Friday acquitted W.R. Grace & Company and three of its former executives of having knowingly exposed mine workers and residents of Libby, Montana, to asbestos. The W.R. Grace plant in Libby, Montana, in an undated photograph. "We at Grace are gratified by today's verdict and thank the men and women of the jury who were open to hearing the facts," said Fred Festa, chairman, president and CEO of the company in a written statement. "We always believed that Grace and its former executives had acted properly and that a jury would come to the same conclusion when confronted with the evidence." Festa said that during the time Grace owned and operated a vermiculite mine in Libby, "the company worked hard to keep the operations in compliance with the laws and standards of the day." The jury began deliberating Thursday and returned its verdict Friday morning. The Department of Justice's response to the verdict, which came after a three-month trial, was measured. "The jury has spoken, and we thank them for their service," said a written statement issued by the office of public affairs. "We are refraining from further comment at this juncture because one individual awaits trial in connection with this case." Prosecutors plan to try another executive separately. Asked if the Justice Department plans to appeal, department spokesman Andrew Ames said, "I wouldn't want to comment on that." Federal prosecutors had accused the mining company and its executives of exposing Libby's 100,000 residents to asbestos for decades, resulting in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses. The product covered patches of grass, dusted the tops of cars and drifted through the air in a hazy smoke that became a part of residents' daily lives. "There's never been a case where so many people were sickened or killed by environmental crime," said David Uhlmann in an April interview. He helped spearhead the case when he was the Justice Department's top prosecutor of environmental crimes before stepping down in 2007. During the trial, those who lost loved ones testified at the federal courthouse in Missoula, about 130 miles southeast of Libby, that residents had been kept in the dark about the dangers. Until 1990, W.R. Grace & Company operated a mine in Libby that produced vermiculite, a substance used in all sorts of products, from insulation to fertilizers. The vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite asbestos -- linked to numerous illnesses including mesothelioma, a cancer that can attack the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart. The government's indictment alleged that W.R. Grace conspired to "knowingly release" the asbestos. It said the company tried to hide the dangers from employees and residents, leaving them "in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury." "It was a purpose of the conspiracy to conceal and misrepresent the hazardous nature of the tremolite asbestos contaminated vermiculite, thereby enriching defendants and others," the indictment read. The indictment also said W.R. Grace tried to "defraud the United States and others by impairing, impeding, and frustrating" the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies once they launched an investigation in 1999. The 10-count indictment included charges of wire fraud and obstruction of justice. Had it been convicted, the company could have faced criminal fines of up to $280 million, which is twice the value of its profits from the mine. Grace executives, who were named as defendants, could have faced prison time. The company did not deny that asbestos emanated from its plant. Nor did it question that some people had been sickened and killed, though a definitive number of deaths linked to the vermiculite plant probably will never be known. But W.R. Grace denied any kind of conspiracy. In fact, the company said, it acted responsibly and took appropriate steps. It said it had voluntarily paid millions of dollars in medical bills for 900 Libby residents. In the courtroom, defense attorneys noted that the asbestos problem dates back to about 1920, long before W.R. Grace took over the mine in 1963. The attorneys said that

Jury acquits W.R. Grace, three former execs in asbestos exposure case . Chemical company accused of hiding asbestos dangers from employees, residents . Prosecutors claim pollution left 200 dead, more than 1,000 sick . W.R. Grace claims it took steps to mitigate danger, paid residents' medical bills .

(CNN) -- A jury Thursday acquitted a former Louisville, Kentucky, high school football coach of all charges connected to the heat-related death of a player last year. David Stinson leaves the courtroom Thursday after being found not guilty in the death of a high school player. The jury found former Pleasure Ridge Park football coach David Jason Stinson not guilty of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, who collapsed during a practice on August 20, 2008. The teenager died three days later. Gilpin's body temperature reached 107 degrees, officials say. Stinson also was acquitted on a charge of wanton endangerment. Watch Stinson after his aquittal » Prosecutors said Stinson ran a tough practice on a hot day that made several of his players sick. "The defendant said to his kids, 'We're going to run until someone quits,' " prosecutor Jon Heck alleged in his closing argument. "A young man given that ultimatum, he ran until he collapsed. He turned white, his eyes rolled back. He could no longer support himself. ... He lost his consciousness, was ultimately taken to the hospital where his body temperature exceeded 107 degrees," Heck said of Gilpin. The defense argued that nothing was wrong with the practice and that other factors may have contributed to Gilpin's heat stroke. "We're the first place in this country to indict a coach for a homicide or a felony involving a practice that nobody says they would have stopped," defense attorney Alex Dathorne said in his closing argument. "There's nothing wrong with the practice; there's nothing wrong with it." The defense presented witnesses who said Gilpin had complained that he wasn't feeling well the day he collapsed. Gilpin's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against six coaches at the school. The suit claims they were negligent in their actions and that more than 20 minutes passed between the time Gilpin collapsed and the time one of the coaches called paramedics, according to CNN affilliate WHAS. Stinson is the only person who has been charged with a crime. Days after he was charged, Stinson told supporters that his "heart is broken." "Part of my life has been taken away," he said, according to WHAS. "I no longer teach, and I no longer coach at the school that I love. ... "The one thing people keep forgetting in this is that I lost one of my boys that day," he said. "It was a boy that I loved and a boy that I cared for and a boy that meant the world to me. That's the thing that people forget. And that's a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life."

Jury found Jason Stinson not guilty of all charges in the death of Max Gilpin . Stinson, ex-coach at Pleasure Ridge Park was charged with reckless homicide . Gilpin, 15, collapsed during practice in August 2008 and died several days later . Gilpin's death was determined to be related to heat exhaustion, authorities said .

(CNN) -- A jury in Arkansas convicted evangelist Tony Alamo on Friday of 10 federal counts of taking minors across state lines for sex, according to the court in the Western District in Arkansas. Evangelist Tony Alamo was convicted of all 10 counts against him and will be sentenced later. Authorities in September charged Alamo, the 74-year-old founder and leader of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, and raided his 15-acre compound near Texarkana, Arkansas. Jurors reached the verdict after more than eight hours of deliberations. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. Between March 1994 and October 2005, Alamo transported five girls younger than 18 across state lines for sex, according to the indictment. The criminal complaint included accounts from three of the girls, two of whom were 17 when the complaint was filed last year and one who was 14. All three said Alamo sexually abused them. Alamo, whose real name is Bernie Hoffman, had denied all wrongdoing. In a phone interview last year with CNN, he called the accusations a hoax. "They're just trying to make our church look evil ... by saying I'm a pornographer. Saying that I rape little children. ... I love children. I don't abuse them. Never have. Never will." Asked why authorities were searching the property, Alamo compared himself to Christ. "Why were they after Jesus," he asked. "It's the same reason. Jesus is living within me." Alamo also has compounds in Oklahoma and New Jersey. The Southern Poverty Law Center says Tony Alamo Christian Ministries is anti-Catholic and a cult.

Jury convicts Tony Alamo of all 10 counts against him . He was accused of transporting minors across state lines for sex . Alamo, whose real name is Bernie Hoffman, heads Tony Alamo Ministries .

(CNN) -- A jury in Canton, Ohio, found former police officer Bobby Cutts Jr. guilty of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Jessie Marie Davis, and their unborn child. Grasping tissues and moaning, Bobby Cutts Jr. testitfied he never meant to hurt girlfriend Jessie Davis. The jury of six men and six women reached the verdict after more than 21 hours of deliberations. Jurors found Cutts guilty of aggravated murder for the unlawful termination of Davis' pregnancy and the aggravated murder of a child under the age of 13. But the jury found him guilty of a lesser murder count in the death of Davis. Davis was nine months pregnant when she disappeared. She had chosen the name Chloe for her daughter. Jurors found that baby Chloe was killed during the commission of another crime, making Cutts eligible for the death penalty. The penalty phase of the trial is set to begin February 25. Cutts will face a sentence of either 25 years to life with the possibility of parole, 30 years to life with the possibility of parole, life without parole or death. As the verdicts were read, Cutts remained stoic, a stark contrast to his tearful testimony on Monday. Watch the verdicts » His and Davis' families left the courthouse without comment. Jurors began deliberations late Tuesday afternoon. They had been sequestered, spending nights at a nearby hotel, cut off from exposure to the media and other potential influences. According to testimony, Cutts, 30, rolled Davis' body in a comforter and dumped it in a park, leaving their 2½-year-old son, Blake, alone. Cutts also was found guilty of aggravated burglary, two counts of gross abuse of a corpse and endangering a child, Blake. Cutts sobbed on the witness stand as he admitted killing Davis and their unborn child. But Cutts insisted that their deaths were an accident. "I didn't mean to hurt her," Cutts testified, clasping a handful of tissues. "This isn't real," he said he kept telling himself. Prosecutors discounted Cutts' story, claiming he buckled under the financial pressure of child support, killed the mother of his child and then created a cover story to try to get away with it. On the stand, Cutts said he went to pick up his son Blake and became agitated when Davis, 26, wasn't moving fast enough to get the boy ready. He said he tried to leave her house but she grabbed him to keep him from leaving, and he accidentally elbowed her in the throat. Cutts told the jury he performed CPR on Davis and then tried to revive her with bleach. When he realized Davis was dead, Cutts said he panicked and put her in the back of his truck, so Blake wouldn't have to see his mother. Myisha Ferrell, Cutts' longtime friend, testified for the prosecution that Cutts appeared at her home at 6 a.m. after Davis died. She said she could tell he was distraught. When they left her home in his truck, she found out why. "We drove off and he said something was wrong," she said. "He said, 'Something bad.' " "He said something was wrong with his baby's mother." Ferrell told the jury Cutts started speaking erratically as they drove, then blurted out, "She's in the back." Ferrell admitted she helped dump Davis' body in a field and said Cutts later coached her on what to say to police. Ferrell was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to authorities and complicity to gross abuse of a corpse. During closing arguments, prosecutor Dennis Barr said Cutts strangled and killed Davis and her unborn child because of his mounting debt and child support for what would have been his fourth child. Cutts' own actions following Davis' disappearance were a clear indications of his guilt, he said. "His reaction is the reaction of person who committed a crime and is trying to cover it up," Barr said. Davis disappeared

NEW: Bobby Cutts Jr. guilty of murders of Jessie Davis, unborn child . NEW: Cutts faces the death penalty in death of baby Chloe . Jury deliberated for nearly 22 hours in murder trial of former police officer . "I didn't mean to hurt her," Bobby Cutts Jr. testified .

(CNN) -- A jury in Manhattan found the son of Brooke Astor and one of his lawyers guilty Thursday of scheming to bilk millions of dollars from the late philanthropist's estate. Anthony Marshall was convicted of bilking millions of dollars from the estate of his mother, Brooke Astor. The verdict, returned on the 12th day of deliberation, ended a six-month trial that featured as witnesses a Who's Who of New York's social elite. Anthony Marshall showed no visible reaction as he was found guilty of 14 of the 16 counts against him. His wife, Charlene, who many believed fanned his greed and instigated his mistreatment of his elderly mother, also did not seem to react. Marshall was convicted of the most serious charges -- first-degree grand larceny and scheming to defraud. One of the most serious convictions involved Marshall giving himself a $1 million-a-year raise for handling his mother's affairs, said Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann. Marshall's former lawyer, Francis Morrissey, was convicted of all five counts against him, including forgery and scheming to defraud Astor. Watch Marshall's attorney vow to appeal » "These defendants, two morally depraved individuals, preyed on a physically and mentally ill 101-year-old woman to steal millions of dollars -- dollars that she had intended to go to help the lives of ordinary New Yorkers," Seidemann said, echoing his closing argument to the jury. Astor, who had Alzheimer's disease, was 105 when she died in August 2007. The prosecution called nearly 70 witnesses -- Henry Kissinger, Graydon Carter, Barbara Walters, Vartan Gregorian and Annette de la Renta among them. Prosecutor Seidemann called the case "disturbing," and said the trial told the story of "how a son, an only son, would stoop so low to steal from his own mother in the sunset years of her life in order to line his own pockets and the pockets of his wife." Marshall, who is free on $100,000 bail, faces a maximum 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on December 8. Morrissey faces up to seven years in prison. Author Meryl Gordon, who has followed the Astor story for years, was in the courtroom when the jury returned its verdicts. "It was an incredibly bad, intense time," she said from her cell phone before hopping on a subway. "I was a little surprised that Charlene did not get visibly teary. I guess she was braced for it." Marshall, Astor's only child, was indicted on criminal charges in 2006. The case kicked off a tabloid feeding frenzy that fostered headlines such as "Bad heir day," "Mrs. Astor's disaster" and "DA's kick in the Astor." Through her late husband's Vincent Astor Foundation, Brooke Astor is credited with giving New York, where the Astors made their fortune, about $200 million. The Astor Foundation gave millions to New York cultural jewels -- including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library -- as well as lower-profile programs. Astor was often quoted as saying, "Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around." "Mrs. Astor stood in New York as a symbol of generosity. And this trial stands as a landmark for the nefarious impact of money and greed," said her longtime friend, Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. "It will in many ways tarnish her memory," he said. "It's a sad day, but at the same time, one good thing that will come out of this -- that Mrs. Astor would approve of -- is that the elderly cannot be abused." The case began when Marshall's son, Philip, filed a petition in 2006 asking the court to appoint a guardian for his grandmother. The court documents alleged "elder abuse" and were intended to remove Anthony Marshall's control of her affairs and transfer care to Astor's dear friend Annette de la Renta. He reacted to the

Anthony Marshall faces up to 25 years in prison . Marshall swindled millions from mother in her declining years . Prosecution witnesses included the cream of New York society . Astor's foundation gave $200 million to New York; she died at 105 .

(CNN) -- A jury sentenced an Arkansas man to life in prison without parole for killing a television anchor, officials said Thursday. The Pulaski County, Arkansas, jury on Wednesday convicted Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, of capital murder, residential burglary, rape and theft of property in the October 2008 slaying of Anne Pressly, 26. Pressly, the morning news anchor for CNN affiliate KATV, was found beaten and unconscious in her home. She died five days later. Vance's sentencing phase began after he was convicted Wednesday of capital murder, rape and burglary. Jurors were tasked with deciding whether the aggravating circumstances in favor of the death penalty outweighed the mitigating circumstances. "Tonight, they have come back with a sentence, a sentence that they believe, and we share with them, is the harshest possible sentence for this gentleman going forward, where he will now spend the rest of his natural life in a 6-by-9 cell with nothing to think about but what he has done," said Guy Cannady, stepfather of the victim. "It's not until he's carried out of Tucker Max in a pine box will he really meet his true judgment," Cannady added, referring to Arkansas' Tucker Maximum Security Prison. He said he was not disappointed that Vance did not receive the death penalty. Prosecutor Larry Jegley said the jury gave Vance "everything they could give him except the death penalty." Asked if there were too many mitigating circumstances, Jegley said, "I don't know. I can't speak for the jury. Cases like this, all you can do is put 'em in front of 12 good people and ask them to follow the evidence and do what their conscience demands." Attempts by CNN to reach members of Vance's defense team were unsuccessful Wednesday and Thursday. "There really aren't any winners tonight," Cannady said. "Nothing that's been done here will ever bring Anne back. We'll never see her smile, we'll never hear her laugh, we'll never know the joy of her presence with us until we see her again in heaven." Among the defense witnesses presented Thursday was Vance's mother, Jacqueline Vance Burnett, CNN affiliate KARK reported. Burnett cried on the stand as she spoke about her battle with crack addiction and admitted abusing her son when he was a child, including an incident when he was 7 years old and she slammed his head into a brick wall, the station said. A doctor testified earlier Thursday that Vance had told him school was easy for him before that incident, but difficult afterward. Both doctors said they believe Vance has frontal lobe damage to his brain as well as cognitive impairment, according to KARK. Vance was linked to the killing through DNA, however, and police said at the time of his arrest last year they were "110 percent" sure he was guilty. He had given several statements to police, including one saying he was at Pressly's home and another admitting to her murder. Defense attorney Steve Morley told CNN affiliate WREG as Vance's trial began earlier this month that such evidence presented an obstacle for the defense, but said he hoped jurors could be persuaded to spare his client's life. KARK reported that jurors heard recordings in which Vance apparently confessed to beating Pressly with a piece of wood. Pressly's mother, Patti Cannady, told NBC last year her daughter fought hard for her life, breaking her left hand in the process. "I found my daughter beyond recognition, with every bone in her face broken, her nose broken, her jaw pulverized so badly that the bone had come out of it," Cannady said. "I actually thought that her throat had possibly been cut. Her entire skull had numerous fractures from which she suffered a massive stroke." DNA evidence has also tied Vance to a rape in April 2008 in Marianna, Arkansas, about 90 miles east of Little Rock, police said in December. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report.

Curtis Lavelle Vance, convicted in slaying of Anne Pressly, faced death penalty . Doctors, mother testify about Vance's abuse as a child, possible brain damage . "There really aren't any winners tonight," Pressly's stepfather says of case .

(CNN) -- A key investor with convicted swindler Bernie Madoff drowned in his swimming pool Sunday afternoon, police said. Jeffry Picower, 67, was found unconscious in his pool at his Palm Beach, Florida, home, Palm Beach police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police said they are investigating his death using "standard operating procedure in any drowning." Picower invested with Madoff, who was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors. Madoff pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, totaling billions in losses to investors. Picower's Picower Foundation of Palm Beach announced it was shutting down early this year because of Madoff losses, CNN Money reported. Picower's 2007 tax return valued its portfolio at $955 million. But there were also suggestions that Picower benefited from Madoff's swindle. Citing an unnamed source, Fortune magazine said in April that Frank DiPascali, the chief lieutenant in Madoff's secretive investment business, was "prepared to testify that he manipulated phony returns on behalf of some key Madoff investors," including Picower. Picower also allegedly "extracted billions of dollars from Madoff's fund before it collapsed," according to Forbes magazine.

Jeffry Picower, 67, found unconscious in his pool in his Palm Beach, Florida . Picower invested with Madoff, who was convicted in Ponzi scheme . His foundation announced it was shutting down early this year because of Madoff losses .

(CNN) -- A lawyer for Howard K. Stern says the longtime partner of late sex symbol Anna Nicole Smith will fight conspiracy charges announced Thursday. Krista Barth, an attorney for Howard K. Stern, says it's not appropriate to talk publicly about details of the case. Stern was Smith's "chief enabler," obtaining a variety of prescription drugs to keep the former Playboy model sedated and compliant, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in announcing the charges against Stern and two doctors. Lisa Bloom of In Session and guest host Joy Behar questioned Stern's attorney Krista Barth Friday night on CNN's "Larry King Live." BEHAR: Did Howard see this all coming? BARTH: No, we did not see this coming. We knew that there was obviously the raid earlier on Dr. [Sandeep] Kapoor's office. But this was something that we honestly never expected. Watch part of the discussion » BEHAR: Well, they are very serious charges. There are so many counts here, eight felonies. Will he plead not guilty? What's he going to do? BARTH: Well, he will plead not guilty because he is not guilty. BEHAR: Now, the attorney general, Jerry Brown, called Stern "the principal enabler" in what he says was a conspiracy among three individuals. Do you have a reaction to that? BARTH: I think it's reminiscent of what happened at Duke. I don't think that this was something that should have been stated in a public forum. I think it's contrary to the rules of professional conduct regarding trial publicity. And you have to wonder why such a statement was made. But to say that something like that would not bias my client is beyond me. I can't even be -- I can't even venture a guess. BLOOM: Krista, the difference, though, between the Duke case and this case is that we know that she had at least 11 different medications in her system, the very same medications that are in this criminal complaint. We know that she was taking these drugs for years. We saw her zoned out of her mind with the slurred speech on her reality show and every awards show. So it was pretty common knowledge that Anna Nicole was an addict. And I think your client has even admitted that. There's a substantial amount of evidence here. It doesn't mean your client is guilty. But I think it's enough to raise eyebrows so that ever since she's died, people have wondered: How did she get all of those medications? How was it possible that doctors were giving her all that stuff? BARTH: The most basic tenet of our judicial system is that Mr. Stern is presumed innocent. ... And the concern that I have is that the public nature of the statements by the attorney general in the state of California is a bit troubling. And when I make the analogy to the Duke case, I think you're missing the point, in that that was done during an election campaign. There are sometimes political motivations for things that are done. You have to ask why is this case important to so many when what Attorney General Brown is talking about is a pervasive, over-prescription of prescription drugs. BEHAR: How much responsibility do the tabloids have in this case? I mean, it really was all over the place. BLOOM: I think that's going to be part of the defense, that they got prescriptions under false names because the tabloids were after her and they wanted every detail and she wanted some privacy. And as a celebrity, she may be entitled to that. I think that may be a valid defense as to why they were under false names. But there's no defense that I can see why thousands of pills. BEHAR: Krista, where did she get thousands of pills? BARTH: Well, you know what? Discussing the details of this is not appropriate. I think that the most important thing to focus on here is the way that our judicial system is supposed

California attorney general's comments are prejudicial, lawyer says . Brown saying too much about Anna Nicole Smith case, Krista Barth says . Barth is attorney for Smith's ex-partner, Howard K. Stern . Stern, two others charged with conspiring to supply Smith with drugs .

(CNN) -- A lawyer who left a videotape saying Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom would be responsible if anything happened to him masterminded his own death last year, a special United Nations commission said Tuesday after an eight-month investigation. Colom had nothing to do with the killing, said Carlos Castresana, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala. "Rodrigo Rosenberg, for some reason, decided to put an end to his life," Castresana said at a televised news conference. Rosenberg was shot from behind in a brazen daylight attack while riding his bicycle in Guatemala City, the nation's capital. He was shot three times in the head, once in the neck and once in the back, Castresana said. Prominent Guatemalan brothers Francisco Jose Valdez Paiz and Jose Estuardo Valdez Paiz hired hit men at the behest of Rosenberg, who told them he was being threatened by someone, Castresana said. The two brothers, who own a pharmaceutical company, had been cousins of Rosenberg through a previous marriage and did not know that he was the target of the assassination, Castresana said. Rosenberg fed information to the hit squad leader that led to his own death, giving descriptions of what the target looked like and where he would be. "It was the two brothers and no one else," Castresana said. "Not a politician. Not a [government] minister. Not a police chief. No one. Just these two brothers." About 300 investigators from 11 nations reached their conclusion after an exhaustive examination of 100,000 telephone calls, 9,500 documents, surveillance videotapes, and 135 interviews with 11 suspects and others, Castresana said. Colom had maintained since the May 10 slaying that he was innocent despite Rosenberg's explosive videotape, which was made public the day after his death. Guatemalan authorities have arrested 11 men on suspicion that they carried out the killing, but the Valdez Paiz brothers remain at large. Their lawyer, Alexis Calderon, denied last week that his clients were involved. "This is a story being made up to implicate people who didn't have anything to do with it," Calderon said. He also said that he did not know where the brothers were but that they would surrender after Tuesday's conference. Calderon did not answer calls seeking comment Tuesday. Arrest warrants for the brothers were issued December 10, Castresana said, noting that the suspects were already out of the country by then. Rosenberg recorded the tape blaming Colom three days before his death. He said Colom wanted him dead because the lawyer had been blaming the president and some of his top associates for the slaying of a prominent businessman and his daughter the previous month. Businessman Khalid Musa and his daughter, Marjorie, were killed, Rosenberg said, because they had refused to participate in acts of corruption as the president wanted. Rosenberg was Musa's attorney. Castresana indicated Rosenberg staged his own killing to get back at Colom and high-level members of his government, whom he could not prove were responsible for the Musa killings. "He wanted to open a box of lightning and thunder," said Castresana, a Spanish judge. Castresana pointed to several indicators of Rosenberg's state of mind: His mother had died; he was going through a second divorce, and his wife had taken their young children to Mexico; he was bereft at the slaying of Marjorie Musa, with whom he had a close relationship; and he felt a sense of powerlessness because he could not prosecute the people he believed were responsible for the Musa slayings. May 10, the date of his killing, was Mother's Day. In two April 21 e-mails, seven days after the Musa killings, Rosenberg wrote, "I can't stop crying" and "I feel like I'm disintegrating," Castresana said. Rosenberg made out his last will and testament on April 24 and started going public with his accusations against Colom regarding the Musa slayings on May 3. On May 4, he called a meeting at his law office and said he would be leaving the firm

NEW: President expresses feeling of vindication at findings . United Nations commission included 300 investigators from 11 nations . Lawyer left tape saying Guatemalan leader responsible if anything happened to him . U.N. panel says brothers involved in arranging hit are at large .

(CNN) -- A leading Muslim-American civil rights group is advocating intense grassroots engagement among police and U.S. Muslim neighborhood leaders to thwart the emergence of homegrown Islamic terrorists. A report, issued Friday by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, reflects the shock among American Muslims over the Fort Hood massacre, the arrests of five American Muslims in Pakistan suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, and the arrests of eight Somali-American men on charges related to what prosecutors said were efforts to recruit youths to fight for a Somali guerrilla movement. Titled "Building Bridges to Strengthen America: Forging an Effective Counterterrorism Enterprise between Muslim Americans and Law Enforcement," the paper stresses a division of labor and a collaboration between police and community groups. Police should fight crime, including terrorism, and neighborhood leaders should deal with the causes of radicalization, it says. At the same time, both need to work hand in glove, the paper said. "We will capture the narrative from those who seek to misguide the young people," said Haris Tarin, the head of the council's District of Columbia office. He was speaking Friday at a news conference in Washington that introduced the 32-page paper. "One incident of violent extremism is one too many," said Alejandro J. Beutel, the author of the report and the group's government liaison. "Our community needs to develop more sophistication in dealing with this challenge." Beutel, who also spoke at the news conference, said there needs to be a greater emphasis on community policing, an idea that calls for closer ties between neighborhood residents and cops on the beat. Developing closer relations with local Muslims would help police tap "unique cultural and linguistic" skills that can spot and head off trouble. The study said police must surmount community distrust, which it says is common and calls "an automatic barrier to police community outreach." "Unfortunately, in the current political climate, the actions of certain law enforcement agencies -- whether spying on peaceful activist groups and houses of worship without reasonable suspicion, or religious profiling -- have added to difficulties," the report said. Such a "heightened sense of fear and grievances also creates a greater pool of alienated people terrorists can tap into for recruitment," Beutel's report said. Tarin and Beutel said concern about radicalism in the Muslim community isn't new: Books have been published about the subject, and imams at mosques have raised the issue for many years. Speaking at the news conference, Tarin said that Muslim leaders need to "think outside the box" and engage young people in cyberspace, on social networking sites and in other social circles where they are coming together. And both men said that all Muslim groups need to work together to help confront problems like the emergence of radical thought and identify sources of discontent. Beutel said the U.S. Muslim community can learn from the experience of the British Muslim community. While there was initial surprise that local Muslims were involved in the July 7, 2005, London bombings, Muslims there later realized that militant leaders were tapping into the problems caused by youthful alienation and social issues such as racism, drug use and premarital sex. Beutel cites a study that says many militants had been secular before they embraced radical Islam, but they typically lacked mainstream religious knowledge. He said making communities "religiously literate" would help fight radicalism. "Muslim communities must do their part to reach out and continue to assist law enforcement to bring real terrorist perpetrators to justice," Beutel wrote in the report. "The role Muslim communities should play is in counterradicalization efforts through better religious education, social programs and long-term constructive political engagement."

Group wants police, U.S. Muslim leaders to thwart emergence of homegrown terrorists . Report, cites Fort Hood tragedy, Americans' arrest in Pakistan, Somali-Americans' arrest . Study says police must undo community distrust, which it calls a barrier to outreach . Muslim leaders asked to engage youths on social networking sites and in other social circles .

(CNN) -- A leading figure in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's party, the UMP, has dismissed any suggestion that ex-International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set up when he was arrested on charges of sexual assault in New York in May. "To imagine that what would have happened to Mr. Strauss-Kahn would be the object of some sort of complicity from the UMP, it seems too hard to believe," said Jean-Francois Cope, secretary-general of the UMP party. Charges against Strauss-Kahn were dropped in August after questions were raised over the credibility of his accuser, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo. However, the scandal ended both his career at the IMF and any hope of the leading Socialist politician challenging Sarkozy in next year's presidential election. Now an article in the New York Review of Books says Strauss-Kahn suspected a cellphone that disappeared just before his arrest had earlier been hacked. It also describes CCTV footage showing employees of the Sofitel hotel appearing to celebrate after the maid reported the alleged attack. A female friend of Strauss-Kahn allegedly warned him that an email he had sent had been read at UMP offices in Paris. If this was the case it meant, according to the New York Review of Books, "he had reason to suspect he might be under electronic surveillance in New York. He had already been warned by a friend in the French diplomatic corps that an effort would be made to embarrass him with a scandal. The warning that his BlackBerry might have been hacked was therefore all the more alarming." The author of the New York Review of Books story, Edward Epstein, told Agence-France Presse: "I didn't say it was a political conspiracy but I would say that people wanted to find evidence of an indiscretion of his that could derail either his (French presidential) candidacy or even (his work at) the IMF." One of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, William Taylor, also told the news agency his client was possibly "the target of a deliberate effort to destroy him as a political force." However, Taylor did not say exactly who might be to blame. In France, right-wing politicians described the entire story as pure fantasy. "For me, if there are facts, if there is clear evidence, of course, it goes without saying that conclusions will have to be drawn," said the UMP's Cope. "As long as they are only rumors, gossip, allegations on the basis of anonymous testimony, which we know absolutely nothing about, you can understand that we remain a little more reserved and certainly not fooled." In a television interview following his return to Paris, Strauss-Kahn confessed to a "moral weakness" and an "inappropriate relationship" with Diallo, but denied any violence or aggression. Strauss-Kahn still faces a civil suit from Diallo in New York, but he has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing his job gave him immunity from civil cases. The New York hotel where the alleged incident was reported also dismissed the story as "inaccurate and speculative." The Sofitel hotel chain released a statement saying: "The article states that two Sofitel employees were seen 'celebrating' on tape for three minutes. In fact, the incident in question lasted only eight seconds and both employees categorically deny this exchange had anything to do with Mr. Strauss-Kahn. "Sofitel Luxury Hotels has cooperated with law enforcement authorities for the entirety of this case as was its civic and legal obligation. As the civil trial remains pending in the U.S., it would not be appropriate to comment on the facts of the case."

French president party denies claim Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set up . Ex-IMF chief arrested on charges of sexual assault in New York; charges dropped . Scandal ended his career at IMF and political ambitions in France . DSK's lawyer says his client possibly "target of a deliberate effort to destroy him"

(CNN) -- A leading humanitarian group says Sunni and Shiite militias in Iraq are pulling displaced people into their movements because governments and international entities are failing to adequately address their plight. Two Shiite militiamen take up combat positions during recent clashes with Iraq security forces. Refugees International underscored that development in a report issued Tuesday titled "Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq." The report says the United States, the government of Iraq and the international community aren't doing enough to address the daily problems faced by the 2.7 million internally displaced Iraqis, who have fled homes in war-torn regions to other places in Iraq. Those people find themselves unemployed in their new locations and many times unable to access food and health care. "As a result of the vacuum created by the failure of both the Iraqi government and the international community to act in a timely and adequate manner, non-state actors play a major role in providing assistance to vulnerable Iraqis," the report says. Social services are being provided by "militias of all denominations" that want to build their groups, with Muqtada al-Sadr's political movement using a Hezbollah model to set itself up "as the main service provider in the country." Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group labeled a terrorist group by the United States, has built a large base of support with its social service network. "Similarly, other Shiite and Sunni groups are gaining ground and support through the delivery of food, oil, electricity, clothes and money to the civilians living in their fiefdoms. "Not only do these militias now have a quasi-monopoly in the large-scale provision of assistance in Iraq, they are also recruiting an increasing number of civilians to their militias -- including displaced Iraqis," the report said. The report says al-Sadr's militia, the Mehdi Army, has resettled displaced Iraqis "free of charge in homes that belonged to Sunnis." "It provides stipends, food, heating oil, cooking oil and other non-food items to supplement the Public Distribution System rations which are still virtually impossible to transfer after displaced Iraqis have moved to a new neighborhood, though it is easier for Shiites to do so," the report says. Refugees International visited a Sadrist office in Baghdad's Ur district and observed residents providing "clothing, milk, oil, rice, sugar, clothes and fuel for heating and cooking when supplies are available." The Sadrists also adjudicate legal disputes among citizens and give stipends to families of displaced people and slain or jailed Mehdi Army fighters. The report says Sunni militias also play a similar role in helping needy and displaced Sunnis, though there is less organized help. "Sunni militias also handle the distribution of key items such as heating gas. As Sunnis in Baghdad get virtually no electricity or other services from the government, they rely on local militias and warlords to secure their areas and manage what services they can obtain." The displaced have joined "awakening" groups -- the "U.S.-backed militias" dominated by Sunnis. Those groups provide security duties, such as guarding checkpoints, and many of them have been getting paychecks from the United States. The U.N. refugee agency says the displacement crisis caused by the war in Iraq is the most significant in the Middle East since the population changes that occurred during the 1948 creation of Israel. Along with the 2.7 million internally displaced people, there are more than 2 million Iraqi refugees -- mostly in Syria and Jordan. The report slams the government of Iraq as being "unwilling" and "unable" to address such humanitarian issues -- "lacking both the capacity and the political will to use its important resources to address humanitarian needs." "The little assistance provided by the government is perceived by most as being biased in favor of the Shiite population, especially when it comes to the delivery of government services such as electricity or food ration cards from the Public Distribution System," the report says. The report adds that the "international community has largely been in denial" about the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq.

Humanitarian group says Shiite, Sunni militias recruiting displaced Iraqis . Muqtada al-Sadr's group using Hezbollah as model, report claims . United States, Iraq, global community not doing enough for displaced, report adds .

(CNN) -- A leading international children's charity has warned that Elton John's desire to adopt a 14-month-old baby boy could lead to more children being abandoned. Elton John kisses baby Lev during his visit to the orphanage in Ukraine on Saturday. The singer, 62, made the announcement during a visit with his partner, 46-year-old David Furnish, to an orphanage for HIV-affected children in Ukraine on Saturday. "David always wanted to adopt and I always said no because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child," he told reporters. "But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today." While EveryChild praised the British musician for helping raise awareness of children affected by HIV/AIDS, it said international adoption is sending out the wrong message. James Georgalakis, EveryChild's Communications and Advocacy Manager, told CNN: "Research conducted in the Ukraine in 2007 which showed high-profile celebrity adoptions and news around foreigners coming into the country and adopting children generally was actually encouraging vulnerable young mothers to abandon their children into homes hoping their child would be adopted by a rich foreigner and have a better life. "So it's quite well documented that these high-profile adoptions could actually be increasing the number of children in institutions." Do you think celebrity adoptions are a good thing? According to research by the charity's Web site, 95 percent of the children in Ukraine's institutions are not orphans, with babies born to HIV+ mothers facing particular discrimination. They are separated from their mothers and often end up in children's homes and institutions segregated from children not affected by HIV. It argues that governments such as Ukraine need to be encouraged to put more emphasis on keeping families together rather than placing them in outdated Soviet-era children's homes. "After a great deal of campaigning by charities such as ours, the Ukraine government introduced a new 'gate-keeping' system which means the authorities will have to consider all available options before a child is placed in an institution," Georgalakis said. "So when a child is taken into care or abandoned, they will have look at whether a child has other family or can be fostered by another family for example. This is a huge step forward and one that needs support. "We will definitely be speaking to Elton and his representatives about this." Elton John is the latest high-profile figure to be linked with a case of this kind. Earlier this year, Madonna won a court appeal to adopt a second child from Malawi. Critics of the pop-star accused the pop superstar of taking advantage of "archaic adoption laws" in a bid to adopt three-year-old Chifundo James. Madonna's initial attempt was denied because she did not meet a residency law that requires applicants to have lived in the country for some time before adoption. This condition was waived when Madonna -- and then husband Guy Ritchie -- adopted her first Malawian child, David Banda. The judge in that case said the interest of the child outweighed the issue of residency. Meanwhile, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering said around 4,000 children need to be adopted in UK each year, with many facing a considerable wait. BAAF Chief Executive David Holmes told CNN: "While Elton John may be considered too old under current guidance to adopt a baby in the UK, there are many children, particularly older children, sibling groups, children with disabilities, and children from black minority groups, all waiting for a family. "We'll certainly be reinforcing this message during National Adoption Week in Britain later this year."

Elton John, 62, made announcement during a visit to an orphanage in Ukraine . EveryChild charity believes international adoption sends wrong message . Spokesman: Mothers abandon children in hope they are adopted by foreigners . Madonna recently won appeal to adopt second child from Malawi .

(CNN) -- A lengthy investigation into the erratic behavior of a Brazilian accused of ordering the murder of a 73-year-old American nun led to his recent arrest, a Brazilian prosecutor in the state of Para told CNN. U.S. missionary sister Dorothy Stang as seen in 2004 working in the Amazon forest in Para, Brazil. Regivaldo Pereira Galvao was recently seen at what authorities say is the site of the 2005 slaying of Sister Dorothy Stang to pressure peasants there into giving him the property rights, said federal prosecutor Felicio Pontes Tuesday. The site is located in a 7,400 acre plot known as "Lot 55" that is under dispute in the Amazon. Police arrested Galvao Friday on charges of land fraud and slavery. He is already facing a conspiracy to murder charge in connection with Stang's death. Before her death, Stang had defended the right of landless peasants by giving them access to public land and promoting sustainable farming practices that would help halt deforestation. Her land distribution project, the Project for Sustainable Development (PDS), has received praise by officials with the Brazilian government. "Sister Dorothy's PDS project is the very most successful land reform project in the Amazon," said Pontes, adding, "It has helped more than 300 settlers make a living in a sustainable way.". A recently released film called, "They Killed Sister Dorothy," narrated by American actor Martin Sheen, has won international acclaim for its original, in-depth investigation of Stang's life and the details surrounding her murder. The film contains exclusive interviews and information that will be used against the suspects, Brazilian investigators told CNN. "This film has been very important for us. It not only explains the dilemma Brazilians are facing in protecting the Amazon, but it also contains interviews with the suspects which we will certainly use against them," said Pontes. Aside from Galvao, five people have been accused in Stang's killing. Four have been convicted, and one has been acquitted. Stang was gunned down along a muddy road near Lot 55 as she worked with the peasants. Galvao's presence at Lot 55 adds to evidence against him in the murder case, Pontes said. "We have been keeping an eye on him since he left prison, since he has always said he had nothing to do with that land, and therefore was not behind the murder of Sister Dorothy," Pontes told CNN. "Now we nailed him, we know he lied and he did have a lot of interest in that allotment," he said. Galvao sat in prison for a year after Stang's death while awaiting trial. He was released by Brazil's high court in 2006, though he is still awaiting trial. Galvao has consistently denied illegally obtaining land and being involved in Stang's murder. He has also denied any involvement with Lot 55, which has been divided among poor settlers for Stang's sustainable farming projects. "I'm deeply sorry about this whole tragedy, but I am also a victim of it," Galvao said in a statement from jail after his arrest in 2005 which was posted on a Web site that proclaims his innocence. "I'm innocent. I never stained my hands with any crime, or ordered anyone else to stain theirs." Prosecutors accuse Galvao of forging land titles and forcefully seizing public lands under the government's law reform program. Elizabeth Dowyer, a nun with the Sisters of Notre Dame where Stang was ordained, told CNN she was happy when she heard the announcement of Galvao's arrest. "We are relieved in a sense because we knew he was also involved in slavery and he was an illegal land grabber," she said. "We also strongly believe he was involved in a consortium to grab that plot." Dowyer, who also was involved in Stang's land reform movement in the Amazon, said Stang knew her would-be killers and even prayed for them. "In her letters, she named the people she tried to mediate with. On the night before her death, she invited her own

Prosecutor: Galvao's recent presence at murder site adds to evidence against him . Galvao was arrested Friday on charges of land fraud and slavery . He already faces a conspiracy to murder charge in connection with nun's death . Galvao has denied illegally obtaining land and being involved in Stang's murder .

(CNN) -- A little over a week ago nearly every media outlet was fixated on Tiger Woods and his apology news conference. We saw pundits, columnists, journalists, radio talk show hosts, psychologists, body language experts, entertainers and anyone with an opinion weigh in on the sincerity of Tiger: Was he really sorry for committing adultery, should he apologize further and hundreds of other angles. Some even described him as a fallen athlete who will lose millions of endorsements and a man who has destroyed the trust he built up with his fans. I even heard one woman say she needed Tiger to apologize, yet couldn't articulate why it mattered so much to her, especially since she wasn't his wife, kin to him, and wasn't a family friend. Yet if there was ever one athlete we could truly place in that category of fallen athlete, it would be former NBA star Jayson Williams. While Tiger brought shame on himself and his family by his admitted extramarital affairs, he has broken no laws, and what he did doesn't affect us at all. Yet Williams is another matter. This week, he was led away in handcuffs after being sentenced in a New Jersey court for fatally shooting a limo driver on February 14, 2002. Some carried his sentencing live. Yet most networks ignored his case, which ended eight years of courtroom drama. Frankly, if there was a case that is instructive to kids who look up to athletes, it's Jayson, not Tiger. Jayson Williams was a gregarious and fun-loving man who could light up the court. After injuries took their toll and ended his NBA career, he was a rising TV analyst with NBC, a playful man with a big heart. I'll never forget watching him on "Oprah" with his dad as they talked about building his huge mansion, how it was a place where hundreds of kids traveled through as a result of his charitable endeavors and how he had a zest for life. But that all ended on the night the life of Costas Christofi ended. After a dinner, Williams returned to his home and was showing several folks his many guns when he snapped his double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun shut. Williams didn't realize it was loaded, and a single bullet hit Christofi in the chest. A panicked Williams put the gun in Christofi's hand, and even jumped in his pool, hoping to wash away the evidence. Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter and convicted on four counts of coverup. He settled with Christofi's family for $2 million, all while the case went back and forth through the legal system. While that was happening, Williams began to lose it all. His wife filed for divorce; he was hit with a stun gun by police after an encounter; he crashed his vehicle in another incident and threatened to kill himself. Williams was a man who fell victim to alcohol and guns, a deadly combination. He was sentenced to five years in jail and is eligible for parole in 18 months. Everything he had -- money, fame, budding TV career, marriage, friends, respect -- all lost because of the horrible decisions he made one fateful night. Jayson Williams didn't achieve the level of fame as Tiger Woods, but we can surely learn more from his fall from grace than Tiger's. The former killed a man, the latter cheated on his wife. Both morally wrong, only one legally wrong. Tiger will undoubtedly return to the golf course one day. Sure, he can fret about losing millions in endorsements and may have to confront losing his wife. But Williams must forever live with the memory of a man dying as a result of his actions. We all may want to focus on Tiger, but it's the tragedy of Jayson Williams that should have all of us talking and examining what went wrong in the charmed life of a basketball star. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin.

Roland Martin cites case of NBA ex Jayson Williams . Williams has been sentenced to five years for killing a man . Martin says his fall from grace, not Tiger Woods', is example to examine . Both men morally wrong, only one legally wrong, Martin says .

(CNN) -- A lock break occurred on the Ohio River near Warsaw, Kentucky, on Sunday, stopping barge traffic for several hours as the Army Corps of Engineers investigated. The lock break stopped traffic on the Ohio River about 65 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky. The incident involved structures, and there were no reports of injuries. All traffic on the river was stopped in both directions at about 9 a.m. ET, Corps spokesman Todd Hornback said. By 8 p.m., an auxiliary lock was set up to start allowing the half-dozen blocked barges through. "It's going to take more time, but we're keeping the river open tonight," Hornback said. The river is a major artery for commodities shipping, with more than 50 million tons of cargo passing through the affected area annually, according to a waterways organization. It was not known what caused the break at the Markland Locks and Dam. Engineers were going to the site, about 65 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky, Hornback said. The lock's gates are 1,200 feet long and 110 feet wide. A smaller auxiliary lock is 600 feet long and 110 feet wide. Watch traffic backed up on Ohio River » A lock is a section of a waterway, such as a river, that is closed off with gates. Vessels in transit enter the lock and the water level is raised or lowered in order to raise or lower the vessel to adjust to elevation changes. One of the broken portions is known as a miter gate, Hornback said. The Corps of Engineers, on its Web site, says a miter gate "has two leaves that provide a closure at one end of the lock." They are so named because the two leaves meet at an angle pointing upstream and resembling a miter joint, the Web site said, referring to a joint meeting at a 45-degree angle, such as the corner of a picture frame. A public policy organization, in a February 2008 report, graded the locks' performance as a D, "based primarily upon risk of failure due to unreliability of miter gates." The federal government allocated $10.6 million to install new chamber miter gates, according to Waterways Council Inc., which describes itself as an organization "advocating a modern and well-maintained national system of ports and inland waterways." Hornback said the work was scheduled for 2011, adding that it's unclear whether Sunday's break will speed that up. "The risk is very high that a failure of the lock gates will occur, forcing traffic through the auxiliary lock for an extended period, causing huge delays and costs to the towing industry," the council said in the report last year. Engineers hope to have the river back open as soon as possible, Hornback said, but an exact time frame was not known. Some 55 million tons of commodities pass through the Markland Locks each year, according to the Waterways Council. The principal commodity passing through Markland is coal, which fuels numerous electric power plants along the Ohio River, and those plants typically stockpile only about a 30-day supply, the council said.

NEW: Auxiliary lock used to relieve blocked river traffic . Lock broke Sunday morning; cause not known, Army Corps of Engineers says . Break happened about 65 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky . In locks, vessels are raised or lowered to match elevation ahead .

(CNN) -- A long-hidden message has been discovered inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch, the Smithsonian's Museum of American History announced Tuesday. The message in the watch differs slightly from what the watchmaker later said he wrote. Watchmaker Jonathan Dillon was repairing Lincoln's watch in April 1861 when he heard about the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and wrote a short message on the metal inside the watch, the Smithsonian said. There it remained, unseen for almost 150 years, it said. In a 1906 interview with The New York Times, Dillon reported that as soon as he heard the news about the first shots of the Civil War, he unscrewed the dial of the watch and wrote on the metal, "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try." The actual message that the museum found differs from the watchmaker's recollection. It says, "Jonathan Dillon, April 13-1861, Fort Sumpter [sic] was attacked by the rebels on the above date J Dillon, April 13-1861, Washington, thank God we have a government, Jonth Dillon." According to the Smithsonian, it was not unusual for professional watchmakers to record their work inside a watch. "Lincoln never knew of the message he carried in his pocket," said Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History. The museum decided to open the watch after being contacted by the watchmaker's great-great-grandson, Doug Stiles, who had heard about the message Dillon said he had inscribed and wanted to see if it was really there.

Watchmaker left message during repairs, Smithsonian says . Message comments on attack on Fort Sumter, which began Civil War . Lincoln never knew about message, historian says .

(CNN) -- A magazine photo spread of Taliban fighters posing in the uniforms of 10 French soldiers killed last month has sparked an angry response. One of the pictures in the French magazine Paris Match that has stirred controversy. The latest edition of Paris Match includes photos of the Taliban fighters and their commander, "Farouki," wearing French uniforms, helmets and using French assault rifles and walkie-talkies. Farouki, aged 30-35, claims in the accompanying story to have led his group in the August 18 ambush which killed 10 French troops and injured a further 21 in the Sarobi District, 40 miles east of Kabul. It was the French army's single highest death toll in 25 years. He said the area was "our territory" and the attack was a "legitimate" part of its defense. Farouki said it did not need a lot of planning, with the French soldiers only spotted a short time before the assault. He said the soldiers had died for "[George W.] Bush's" cause and that if France did not return the rest of its troops home they would all be killed. Farouki said they would continue fighting till the last man. See more on Paris Match's Web site French Defense Minister Herve Morin accused the magazine of helping the Taliban. "Should we be doing the Taliban's promotion for them?" he asked in the French daily newspaper Liberation. Joel Le Pahun, father of one of the killed soldiers, told the newspaper the pictures were "despicable." Green MP Daniel Cohn-Bendit called them "voyeurism." However, Paris Match editor Laurent Valdiguie defended the publication, saying it was "legitimate" given the importance of the story. The story's author, Eric de Lavarène, said only he and photographer Véronique de Viguerie met the group and he asked his questions via their "fixer."

Photos of Taliban in the uniforms of dead French soldiers provokes outrage . Magazine Paris Match features photos of Taliban and their commander . 10 French troops were killed and a further 21 injured in an ambush .

(CNN) -- A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the Pacific near American Samoa, triggering towering tsunami waves that gushed over the island and leaving at least 22 people dead. The tsunami wave hit right in the middle of the harbor of Pago Pago, the capital. American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, speaking from Hawaii, said Tuesday's quake ranked "right up there with some of the worst" disasters on the island. He said about 50 people had been treated for injuries so far but he expected that number to rise. The quake hit the small cluster of South Pacific islands early Tuesday morning. By evening, Laumoli, standing outside the LBJ Tropical Medican Center morgue in the capital of Pago Pago, confirmed 22 deaths. "I thought it was the end of the world," said Dr. Salamo Laumoli, director of health services. "I have never felt an earthquake like that before." Laumoli feared more fatalities would turn up as rescue workers were still trying to access parts of the island severed by damaged infrastructure. Laumoli said people in outlying villages on one end of the main island have been cut off because the main bridge was washed away. "Two or three villages have been badly damaged," he told CNN International. Listen to Laumoli speak about the impact of the quake and tsunami » Tulafono cited extensive damage to roads, buildings and homes, and said he had spoken to the military about mobilizing reserve forces for assistance. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, canceled tsunami watches and warnings for American Samoa about four hours after the earthquake hit. However, a tsunami advisory is still in effect for for the coastal areas of California and Oregon. Watch report on end of tsunami warning » The Japan Meteorological Agency also activated a tsunami advisory along its eastern coast. The precautionary alert means that the height of a possible tsunami wave would be less than a foot and a half. President Barack Obama "declared a major disaster exists in the Territory of American Samoa" late Tuesday and ordered federal aid to supplement local efforts. The declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals. The tsunami waves hit right in the middle of the Pago Pago harbor, the capital, said Cinta Brown, an American Samoa homeland security official working at the island's emergency operations center. The water devastated the village of Leone. Watch a resident talk about what happened » "The wave came onshore and washed out people's homes," Brown said. The same happened on the hard-hit east and west sides of American Samoa, she said. The quake generated three separate tsunami waves, the largest measuring 5.1 feet from sea level height, said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Preliminary data had originally reported a larger tsunami. Officials in the U.S. territory issued a clear call and were focusing on assessing the damage, Brown said. Reports of damage were still emerging, but a bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the waves "may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts. Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this possibility." Tulafono, the governor, was on his way back home Tuesday night on one of two U.S. Coast Guard C-130 transport planes flying to American Samoa with aid. The Coast Guard also will transport more than 20 officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to American Samoa, said John Hamill, external affairs officer for FEMA in Oakland, California. The FEMA team will include a variety of debris experts, housing experts, members of the Corps of Engineers, and other disaster relief specialists, Hamill said. Tulafono told reporters Tuesday that it was hard being away from home when disaster came calling. It was a time, he said, for families to be together. Those who experienced the massive quake described it as a terrifying event. Brown was standing in a parking lot when her sports utility vehicle began rocking left and right. "You could hear the rattling of the metal" of a large chain

NEW: White House declares major disaster; orders federal aid . U.S. sending plane with aid, officials to help American Samoa . Magnitude-8.0 quake strikes near Samoan Islands early Tuesday . Quake struck at depth of 7.4 miles, triggered three 5-foot tsunamis .

(CNN) -- A major clean-up operation is underway along the north coast of New Zealand's North Island as debris and oil leaking from a cargo ship that ran aground on a reef wash ashore, officials say. The Rena, a Liberian-flagged vessel, struck the Astrolabe Reef, about 12 nautical miles off the city of Tauranga, last week. New Zealand's oil spill response agency, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), estimates that as much as 300 tonnes of fuel oil has leaked from the vessel, which was carrying 1,700 cubic meters (450,000 gallons) of fuel. The country's environment minister, Nick Smith, has called the spill New Zealand's most significant maritime environmental disaster. As of Friday, clean-up teams collected 95.45 tonnes of solid waste and 6 tonnes of liquid waste from beaches in the Bay of Plenty, MNZ said. About 60 kilometers of coastline, from the towns of Maketu to Mount Maunganui, is contaminated with oil, the agency said. Pubic access to some waterfront areas has been restricted due to health concerns. "We are now coordinating a team of around 1,000 people involved in operations on land, sea and air and covering areas like field operations, planning, logistics, wildlife recovery and community and iwi [indigenous Maori people] liaison," said National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn. MNZ said that 500 dead birds have been found following the oil spill. The agency said 140 people scoured the coast yesterday for wildlife affected by the spill and 51 oiled animals are being treated at a center that has been set up in Tauranga. A team has been established to capture seals and five of the animals are being kept in captivity. Greenpeace has expressed "extreme concern" about the spill and urged the government to avoid using further toxic dispersants. "This is an unfortunate illustration of just how difficult it is to deal with oil spills at sea," the organization's Steve Abel said. "Even a slow and relatively accessible oil spill like this one has clearly stretched New Zealand's response capability to its limits," he said. "It is also a potential disaster for the blue whales and dolphins presently calving in the area, as well as numerous other marine species." MNZ said that 88 containers had fallen off the ship, 20 of which have washed ashore. Due to the hazard the containers pose to shipping, the agency said navigational warnings had been issued and major maritime traffic has been re-routed. The Rena has suffered substantial structural failure and there is a concern that the stern of the vessel may break up, MNZ said. Salvage teams have three tugs mobilized either to hold the stern on the reef while efforts continue to remove oil from the ship, or to tow the stern to shallow water to extract the oil, the agency said. Containers remaining on the vessel continue to move, making it dangerous for salvage crews to work on board. Salvors have worked to build a platform to attach to the side of the vessel today to be used to assist fuel recovery operations, MNZ said. The ship's second officer appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday to face a charge of "operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk," MNZ said. The Rena's captain was remanded on bail on Wednesday on the same charge, on the condition he surrender his passport. His name has not been released. If convicted, they face a maximum fine of $7,800, or up to 12 months imprisonment. CNN's Karen Smith and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.

About 60 km of northern coastline of North Island is contaminated with oil . 500 dead birds have been found; 51 oiled animals being treated . Government: Spill is country's most significant maritime environmental disaster . Rena cargo ship began leaking oil after hitting reef off New Zealand's North Island .

(CNN) -- A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka with 250,000 unprotected civilians trapped in the crossfire between government troops and rebel forces, the Red Cross says. A civilian, injured during fighting in rebel territory, lies on a bed at a hospital in Vavuniya on January 16, 2009. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appealed to both sides to facilitate the movement of civilians out of the combat zone which has seen intensified fighting. "People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded," Jacques de Maio, ICRC head of operations for South Asia in Geneva said in a statement on the ICRC Web site." The violence is preventing the ICRC from operating in the region. In the capital, Colombo, Indian foreign affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee huddled Wednesday with Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa on the potential humanitarian crisis. "The Sri Lankan government has reassured that they would respect the safe zones and minimize the effects of conflict on Tamil civilians," Mukherjee said. His discussions with Rajapaksa also envisioned a post-civil war Sri Lanka. "We will work together with the government of Sri Lanka to enable all Sri Lankans, and particularly the Tamil community who have borne the brunt of the effects of the conflict, to lead normal lives as soon as possible," Mukherjee said. But for now, the ICRC says hundreds of patients are in need of emergency treatment and evacuation to Vavuniya Hospital in the government-controlled area and has urged that humanitarian assistance be unhampered in the Vanni region. "When the dust settles, we may see countless victims and a terrible humanitarian situation, unless civilians are protected and international humanitarian law is respected in all circumstances," Maio said. "It's high time to take decisive action and stop further bloodshed because time is running out." Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also called for the safety of civilians as humanitarian groups try to provide aid to people trapped in the region. "The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians caught in intensified fighting in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka," a spokesman for Ban said in a statement Monday. Ban called on the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers to respect "no-fire zones" and civilians areas, including schools, hospitals and humanitarian posts. He also asked both sides to allow civilians trapped in the fighting to move to "safe areas." Sri Lankan soldiers seized a key rebel stronghold in a surprise attack Sunday, even as humanitarian agencies feared for the safety of civilians. Watch a report on the recent fighting » "It's an incredibly serious situation," James Elder, a U.N. spokesman, said Monday. "We have a very large number of people, including tens of thousands of children, trapped in a fast-shrinking conflict zone." Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency. "Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address Sunday. "This is the long-awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," the Sri Lanka Army chief said. There has been no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead. The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has said it has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds. Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant

NEW: ICRC says hundreds of patients need emergency treatment and evacuation . NEW: Intensified conflict is preventing the ICRC from operating in the region . NEW: Indian foreign affairs minister meets with Sri Lankan President over the crisis . U.N. asks both sides to allow 250,000 trapped civilians to move to "safe areas"

(CNN) -- A major investor in convicted swindler Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme drowned in his swimming pool in Florida after a heart attack, his attorney said Monday. The medical examiner's office confirmed the report. Jeffry Picower, 67, was found unconscious in his pool shortly after noon Sunday at his Palm Beach, Florida,, home by his wife, Palm Beach police said. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital. Picower's attorney, William Zabel, told CNN that Picower drowned after suffering a massive heart attack. Sue Jaffe, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County medical examiner, confirmed those details. In September, Forbes magazine ranked Picower No. 371 among the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth of $1 billion. In March, Madoff was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme and defrauding thousands of investors. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to 11 felony counts of fraud, money laundering and perjury. Prosecutors have said it was the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, totaling billions in losses to investors. When the Picower Foundation of Palm Beach announced it was shutting down early this year because of Madoff losses, it initially appeared that the prominent philanthropist had been an unfortunate victim of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Picower's 2007 tax return had valued his foundation's portfolio at $955 million. However, in May, court filings by Madoff trustee Irving Picard changed the picture. The trustee's complaint claimed that Picower had been a key beneficiary of Madoff's Ponzi scheme for more than 20 years, and "knew or should have known that [he] was profiting from fraud because of the implausibly high rates of return" on his accounts. Those "anomalous and astronomical rates of return" -- as high as 500 percent in one year and 950 percent in another year -- "were neither credible nor consistent with legitimate trading activity, and should have caused any reasonable investor ... to inquire further," the court filings said, referring to Picower as "a sophisticated investor, accountant and lawyer." Citing backdated account filings and other bogus paperwork, the complaint contends that "Picower and the other defendants also knew or should have known that they were reaping the benefits of manipulated purported returns, false documents and fictitious profit." The Picowers recently told The New York Times that the publicity and controversy surrounding their connection to Bernie Madoff had been a great source of heartache. "We always have been private people, and having all this play out in the media has taken a big toll on our health," the couple wrote in response to questions posed by reporters. "We feel stunned, betrayed, angry, sickened, devastated," they said, and were only able to draw strength and consolation "from each other and from the knowledge that we did nothing wrong."

Jeffry Picower, 67, found unconscious in his pool in his Palm Beach, Florida . Picower drowned after having a heart attack, his attorney and medical examiner say . Picower had invested with Bernie Madoff, who was convicted in Ponzi scheme . Forbes magazine ranked Picower No. 371 among the 400 richest Americans .

(CNN) -- A major nor'easter is expected to bring blizzard conditions to interior New England and heavy rain and near-hurricane-force wind gusts to Northeastern coastal areas Wednesday through Friday. Little, if any, snow will fall in Boston, Massachusetts, while Washington, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, could see as much as 5 inches of snow with locally higher amounts, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said. Record snowfall totals of 30 inches or more will be possible across upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, Morris said. Very strong winds will combine with the heavy snow to produce dangerous white-out conditions and widespread power outages. Share your winter weather videos and pics Hurricane-force wind gusts combined with heavy rain are likely to cause significant flight delays and cancellations at all major airports along the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday and Friday, Morris said. Another storm was bringing heavy, wet snow Wednesday morning from Connecticut to Massachusetts. The National Weather Service predicted the weight of the snow would bring down tree limbs and power lines, causing scattered power outages. Scattered outages already were being reported in parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where snowfall totals in the Berkshire Mountains could reach 24 inches by Wednesday night, the weather service said. Meanwhile, central Texas was digging out from up to 4 inches of snow after setting records with more than a foot less than two weeks ago. Sunshine was predicted for Wednesday, but CNN iReport contributor Robert Huntington of Austin, Texas, said the snow was falling hard in his neighborhood Tuesday. "[They're] really big flakes, I mean, unusually large flakes," he said. "It's Texas. Everything's bigger in Texas." CNN's Jim Kavanagh, Sean Morris and Mallory Simon contributed to this report.

Nor'easter expected to bring blizzard conditions, near-hurricane winds . Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could get 30 inches of snow . Little snow expected in Boston; New York, Philadelphia and Washington may see more .

(CNN) -- A major sponsor for Tiger Woods announced Sunday that it is dropping the golf star in light of recent controversy swirling around his personal life. Accenture, a management consulting firm, said on its Web site that "given the circumstances of the last two weeks ... the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising." The move ends a sponsorship arrangement that lasted six years. Another major sponsor, Gillette, said Saturday it was "limiting" Woods' role in its marketing programs to give him the privacy to work on family relationships. Woods announced on his own Web site Friday that he is taking an "indefinite break" from professional golf. The 33-year-old golfer, who tops the sport's world rankings, has been mired in controversy since he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion late last month. In the week following the crash, Woods apologized for "transgressions" that let his family down, and US Weekly magazine published a report alleging that Woods had an affair with a 24-year-old cocktail waitress named Jaimee Grubbs. US Weekly's report followed a National Enquirer article before the crash that the athlete was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess -- an assertion the hostess vigorously denied, according to The New York Post. The statement Friday on Woods' site was the first time he admitted to infidelity; in a previous statement, he referred to his "transgressions." The golf phenomenon, who has won three U.S. Open titles and the Masters tournament and the PGA tournament each four times, said in the statement that he will spend his hiatus with his family. "After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person," Woods said in his Friday statement.

Accenture: Woods no longer the right representative for our advertising . Company cites "circumstances of the last two weeks" Woods announced Friday he was taking break from golf to focus on family . Golfer admitted to infidelity in Friday statement .

(CNN) -- A major winter storm with heavy snow and ice was heading from Texas and Oklahoma to points east, with 8 to 10 inches of snow possible in some locales, the National Weather Service said Friday. Forecasters warned of large accumulations of ice in places such as the north Georgia mountains, causing hazardous driving conditions. Ice and heavy wet snow on power lines could cause power outages. "The precipitation will briefly transition back to light snow or flurries Saturday before ending Saturday afternoon," the weather service said. By Friday afternoon the storm was either in or on its way to parts of Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas. Forecasters issued severe storm warnings for these states. It already was snowing in the afternoon in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Although the snow didn't appear to be sticking, it was expected to form ice in the evening on bridges and overpasses, said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. iReport: Share your photos and video "This is actually an ice event more than a snow event, not so much for Nashville, but places south of there ... from Memphis [Tennessee] to Little Rock [Arkansas], and even over to Chattanooga [Tennessee]," Myers said. He said rain was on tap for Atlanta, Georgia, but the precipitation was to move northeastward and evolve into snow by the time it reaches Virginia and West Virginia. The brunt of the storm stretched from Oklahoma to eastern Tennessee and down to southern Mississippi on Friday afternoon, bringing snow, sleet, freezing drizzle or rain. Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport closed all its runways at 2:30 p.m. local time because of "deteriorating weather conditions." "While airport maintenance crews have been working nonstop clearing the runways, heavily falling snow and near zero visibility have kept them from being able to improve conditions," an airport news release said. It gave no prediction of when the runways could be reopened.

Storm in or on its way to Virginia, W. Virginia, Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas . There is snow and ice in Nashville and north Georgia mountains . Oklahoma City closes runways Friday afternoon with near zero visibility .

(CNN) -- A male University of Virginia lacrosse player was charged with first degree murder Monday after a member of the school's women's lacrosse team was found dead in her apartment, police said. Police were initially called to the off-campus apartment by a roommate who reported "a possible alcohol overdose," said Tim Longo, chief of police in Charlottesville, Virginia. "It was quickly apparent to them this young lady was the victim of something far worse," Longo said. Police identified the dead student as Yeardley Love, 22, a senior from Cockeysville, Maryland. Investigators "fairly quickly" focused on George Huguely from Chevy Chase, Maryland, as a suspect, Longo said. Huguely, a senior, is on the men's lacrosse team and was charged with murder, he said. Police are interviewing friends of Love and Huguely to determine what their relationship was, he said. "That she appears now to have been murdered by another student compounds this sense of loss by suggesting that Yeardley died without comfort or consolation from those closest to her," University of Virginia President John Casteen said. "We know no explanation of what appears now to have happened," he said.

Yeardley Love, member of Virginia's women's lacrosse team, found dead in apartment . George Huguely, member of school's men's lacrosse team, charged with murder . Police interviewing friends to determine what relationship between Love, Huguely was . The lastest on the investigaton on tonight's "Nancy Grace", HLN 8 p.m. ET .

(CNN) -- A male suicide bomber dressed in women's clothing killed three members of Somalia's U.N.-backed interim government and 16 others Thursday when he detonated at a medical school graduation ceremony in Mogadishu, government officials and witnesses said. The Transitional Federal Government said Education Minister Abdullahi Wayel, Health Minister Qamar Aden and Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Adow were among the dead after the bomber attacked Banadir University's medical school commencement. The African Union, which leads a peacekeeping mission in Somalia, put the death toll at 19. The victims also included nine students and two doctors, according to a professor at Banadir University, while journalists said two of their colleagues died in the blast. In addition, Sports Minister Suleman Olad Roble was hospitalized in critical condition, his relatives told local media. Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed blamed the Islamist rebel group Al-Shabaab for the attack and displayed what he said was the body of the bomber for reporters, a local journalist who attended the news conference told CNN. The body the president displayed had a beard. The president also showed the remains of the suicide belt and shreds of a hijab -- a garment worn by some Muslim women to reflect modesty -- at the news conference, according to the journalist, whom CNN is not naming for security reasons. At the United Nations, the Security Council condemned the bombing as an act of terrorism against "people dedicated to building a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the people of Somalia." It urged a "thorough investigation" and expressed hope that those responsible would "be brought swiftly to justice." "The Security Council expresses its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of those killed and to those injured in the attack, as well as to the Transitional Federal Government and the people of Somalia," the council's current president, Burkina Faso's U.N. Ambassador Michel Kafando, said Thursday. Video of the graduation ceremony showed Dr. Osman Dufle, the country's former health minister, speaking as the camera begins to shake -- apparently from the explosion. Afterward, Dufle told journalists that he saw a person dressed in black moving through the audience just before the blast, according to the Radio Mogadishu journalist. Al-Shabaab is made up of former allies of Ahmed, once a leader of the Islamist movement that briefly held power in Mogadishu in 2006. Adow, a Somali-American, served as the foreign secretary of the Islamic Courts Union when it held Mogadishu. But while Ahmed and other former members of the ICU accepted a U.N.-brokered peace agreement with the government they once fought, Al-Shabaab -- which the United States says has links to al Qaeda -- has rejected the peace agreement and has waged a bloody campaign against the transitional government. The African Union's peacekeeping mission AMISOM condemned Thursday's attack. It vowed to "spare no efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of this act and such heinous crimes against humanity being carried out in Somalia" will be brought to justice. The journalists killed were Mohamed Amiin Abdullah of Shabelle Media Network and freelance cameraman Hassan Ahmed Hagi, who worked closely with the network. CNN regularly works with Shabelle Media. The African Union condemned the attack, saying it would "spare no efforts to ensure that perpetrators of this act and such heinous crimes against humanity being carried out in Somalia" will be brought to justice. The National Union of Somali Journalists also condemned the attack and said it brought the number of journalists killed in the country this year to eight. CNN's Ben Brumfield and journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report.

Three government ministers, two journalists, two professors and nine students among 19 killed . Attack struck ceremony held at Hotel Shamo for Banadir University's medical school . President blamed Islamist group Al-Shabaab for attack .

(CNN) -- A man accused of killing eight people in a shooting spree at a North Carolina nursing home is the husband of a woman who worked there, police said Monday. Robert Stewart faces eight counts of first-degree murder in the nursing home shootings. The two may have been separated, said Carthage, North Carolina, Police Chief Chris McKenzie. He did not say if the wife was in the building at the time. The alleged gunman, Robert Stewart, was carrying several weapons, authorities said. Seven patients and a nurse were killed, and three people were wounded, including a visitor and a police officer. All the wounded are expected to survive, McKenzie said. Officer Justin Garner was shot in the leg, McKenzie said. "As I understand, there were three pellets in his shin, leg and foot," he said. Garner entered the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center alone with no backup and brought the shooting spree to an end with a single shot, hitting Stewart in the "chest, upper torso area," McKenzie said. "If that's not heroism, I don't know what is," he said. Garner is "in very good spirits, resting at home," he added. McKenzie said he did not know the latest on Stewart's condition. The alleged gunman's motive remained a mystery. Stewart has not made a public statement nor has an attorney on his behalf. His wife has not issued a statement either. Meanwhile, his ex-wife, Sue Griffin, told CNN affiliate WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, "He did have some violent tendencies from time to time." She added that when she heard the news of Sunday's shooting, "I couldn't believe it -- then I stopped, thought about it and thought, 'It is possible. It's possible.' " At a news conference Monday, McKenzie described the shooting spree as "unimaginable" and "horrific." "Everything that you can possibly imagine that is bad in the world," he said. "This doesn't happen, but it did." He described the small town as "strong, faith-based -- and that faith will get this community through this." The tragedy draws attention to what McKenzie called the toughest part of training police officers. Officers are told not to wait for backup when there are many lives on the line, he said. "That's the hardest thing -- to try to convince them you can't wait, you have to go." If Garner had waited for backup, "there would have been a lot more people [killed]," McKenzie said. The slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger said. A witness told CNN affiliate WRAL-TV in Raleigh-Durham that Stewart was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and other weapons. Jerry Avant Sr. told WRAL that his son, Jerry Avant, a 39-year-old registered nurse, was the employee who was killed in the shooting. He said a doctor told him that his son had been shot more than two dozen times. The elder Avant said the doctor told him his son "undoubtedly saved a lot of lives." Watch dad praise his son's bravery » Stewart faces eight counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony assault on a police officer, and other charges are pending, Krueger said. Carthage is about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. See map showing Carthage and Raleigh »

NEW: Alleged gunman may have been separated from wife . NEW: Lone police officer took down shooter, chief says . NEW: Police say they don't have motive in slayings . Eight people shot and killed Sunday at North Carolina nursing home .

(CNN) -- A man accused of screaming racial slurs while beating an Army reservist in front of her daughter outside a restaurant in Morrow, Georgia, was jailed and held without bond Wednesday after being indicted on felony charges. Troy Dale West Jr, of Poulan, Georgia, is being held without bond on new felony charges. Troy Dale West Jr., of Poulan, Georgia, is facing one count of aggravated assault, two counts of battery, two counts of disorderly conduct, false imprisonment and cruelty to children for allegedly beating Tashawnea Hill outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant on September 9, according to a Clayton County Court online docket. West had been arrested on misdemeanor charges following the incident, but Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson took the the case to a grand jury asking for more serious charges. Hill's attorney Kip Jones told CNN that several hundred supporters, believed to be with the NAACP, Al Sharpton's Political Action Network and Rainbow Push, gathered outside the courtroom Wednesday morning in support of more serious charges against West. Jones said he and Hill were pleased with the new indictment. "We look forward to a conviction as Tasha and her 7-year-old daughter move forward to recover from this heinous incident," he said. West's lawyer, Larry King, had no comment about the indictment, according his assistant. Hill, 35, said the attack occurred after she warned West to be careful after almost hitting her 7-year-old daughter with the restaurant's door as she was leaving. West, according to a police report, admitted striking Hill "after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door." During an interview on CNN following the attack, Jones denied that she spat on West or did "anything to provoke the attack." Hill, an African-American, told police that West, 47, yelled racial epithets at her during the attack. Police said witnesses confirmed her account. "He did punch me with a closed fist repeated times. My head is still hurting today. I have knots on my head," Hill told CNN. She also said she was kicked. Police say Hill stated that "West punched her in the left cheek, forehead, kicked her body in several places, and punched her head in many areas several times." Hill's attorney said he was "convinced this was a hateful, racist attack ... based on the N-word, the B-word, etc." "The language was vile. It was racist. It was sexist. It was completely offensive, completely unprovoked," Jones said. Morrow is a racially diverse city in the southeast suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, with a population of about 4,900, according to the 2000 census.

Man accused of racially charged attack at restaurant held without bond . Grand jury on Wednesday indicted Troy Dale West Jr. on new felony charges . Army reservist said West yelled racial slurs, beat her in front of her child . Charges against West include aggravated assault, battery, false imprisonment .

(CNN) -- A man accused of shooting and paralyzing a U.S. Army soldier at a homecoming party intends to plead not guilty to all charges, his attorney said Wednesday. Ruben Jurado, 19, faces a charge of attempted murder in the shooting of Army Spc. Christopher Sullivan on Friday night at a homecoming party in Sullivan's native San Bernardino, California. He also faces charges on "allegations involving premeditation and the use and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury," the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office said in a statement on Tuesday. Jurado "will deny any and all allegations," defense attorney Michael Holmes said in a written statement to CNN on Wednesday. "We anticipate receiving the initial discovery of police reports and any other evidence that the district attorney has at this time." Holmes noted that the court "allows video arraignment," but said he and Jurado had "discussed this process and he wanted to be present in court during the entire process. He requested to be present and the next available date is tomorrow (Thursday) morning." The party in Sullivan's honor was to celebrate his recent return to California from Kentucky, where he was stationed while recovering from wounds sustained in a suicide bombing a year ago in Afghanistan. The bombing killed five members of his unit and left him with a cracked collarbone and brain damage, according to the San Bernardino County Sun. Sullivan received the Purple Heart, the newspaper reported. At the party, Sullivan was shot twice after an argument and physical confrontation with Jurado, who fled the scene, according to police and witnesses. The fight broke out after Jurado and Sullivan's younger brother began arguing about football, the brothers' mother, Suzanne Sullivan, told CNN. Jurado turned himself in to authorities in Chino Hills, California, on Monday afternoon, said Lt. Gwendolyn Waters. On Tuesday, Sullivan's mother told CNN he was "on 100% life support." "He can move his head and he responds through nodding and blinking to us. His eyes aren't always open, but we try to encourage him to do so as often as possible," Suzanne Sullivan said. She said her son asked what had happened to him and wanted to know why. "We told him what it was about and he just closed his eyes," she said. Suzanne Sullivan said her family is having a difficult time coming to terms with what happened. "He once told me that if defending this country takes his life, so be it," she said. "But to see he survived that, and now for this to happen to him, just breaks my heart." CNN's Stella Chan and Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report.

Ruben Jurado, 19, "will deny any and all allegations," his attorney says . Jurado is accused of shooting Army Spc. Christopher Sullivan at a party . Sullivan, wounded in Afghanistan, was being welcomed home after recuperation . Jurado and Sullivan's brother were arguing about football, mother says .

(CNN) -- A man accused of shooting into a crowd outside an under-21 nightclub -- killing two teenage girls and wounding seven other people -- before shooting himself was in critical condition Monday, police in Portland, Oregon, said. A shooting outside a Portland nightclub Staurday killed two people and injured seven others, police said. Investigators identified the gunman in Saturday night's shooting in Portland as Erik Salvadore Ayala, 24, and are trying to determine why the rampage happened, police said. "This is unprecedented in the city of Portland. We don't have this type of thing," Portland police Detective Mary Wheat said, adding that even seasoned police veterans were shocked by what she called "a random act of violence." "Nobody knows the motive at this time," Wheat said, noting that Ayala didn't have a police record. "We're trying to figure what drove him to this." Investigators believe Ayala sprayed bullets into a crowd of students outside a non-alcohol nightclub called The Zone on Saturday night and then shot himself, authorities said. The students were participants in a Rotary Club foreign exchange program. Slain were Ashley Wilks, 16, and a Peruvian exchange student, Marta "Tika" Paz De Noboa, 17, according to Wheat. Wilks, a Portland high school sophomore, was getting ready to spend her junior year in either France or Spain, her principal said. Two juveniles, four 18-year-olds and a man in his 40s were wounded, Wheat said, adding that exchange students were among those hurt. Scott Bieber, youth protection officer for the exchange program in northern Oregon and southwestern Washington, said the shooting was "nothing like anything we've ever seen in Rotary before, to have as many of our kids involved in something as tragic at one time." "Our main focus right now is to build a support structure for the students who were involved and their host families and their real families, and also for the families of the 28 other inbound students we have in our Rotary district," Bieber said. Eleven exchange students went to the club to celebrate a birthday and were waiting in line when the assault began, Bieber said. Wheat said a 9 mm handgun was used in the shooting. "It doesn't appear at this time that he reloaded," she said. Paz De Noboa was attending Columbia High School in White Salmon, Washington. School officials were helping students deal with their grief over the incident, and counselors were available, said Superintendent Dale Palmer and Vice Superintendent Jerry Lewis of the White Salmon Valley School District. "She was very shy and reserved," Palmer said. "I think she was a good student and helpful to other struggling students." Matt Utterback -- principal of Ashley Wilks' school, Clackamas High School -- issued a statement on the school's Web site confirming Wilks' death and the wounding of Susy De Sousa, an 18-year-old foreign exchange student from Italy. Wilks' was a "bright and curious student" who took honors classes and was a member of the swimming team, Utterback said. He passed along praise from her teachers and her swim coach. "An awesome student with a beautiful smile. She was the kind of person that lights up a room. A truly wonderful, delightful kid," Utterback said. About De Sousa, Utterback said: "Susy challenges herself to take rigorous classes despite the fact that English is her second language. She has a good sense of humor and is known for her persistence." De Sousa was in critical condition but improving, Wheat said. Classes were not in session Monday because it was a teacher workday. Utterback said counseling was available for students, and deplored the shooting. "Such a horrific act is impossible to accept or understand," he said.

Two teens killed, seven other people wounded in Portland, Oregon, shooting . Investigators "trying to figure out what drove [gunman] to this," detective says . Police identify shooter as 24-year-old man, say he shot himself . Students had gone to under-21 club to celebrate a birthday .

(CNN) -- A man authorities believe has robbed at least 10 banks in at least four states was arrested in Missouri after a retired state trooper saw him and learned he was wanted, authorities said Sunday. Schaffner is seen in a police mug shot after his arrest Saturday in Kingdom City, Missouri. Chad Schaffner, 37, was arrested in Kingdom City, Missouri, about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, said Missouri State Highway Patrol radio operator Paula Price. Sam Lakey, a retired Missouri State Highway Patrol officer said he alerted authorities to Schaffner's whereabouts after seeing him at a motel in Kingdom City, about 100 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri. Lakey didn't know who Schaffner was at first, but said he felt something wasn't right after seeing Schaffner and his car, partly because Schaffner didn't make eye contact with him. Watch how ex-cop's hunch brought arrest » Lakey, who was staying at the motel, said he remembered seeing news reports about a man sought in a string of bank robberies, so he looked on the Web site of the television show "America's Most Wanted" to check a vehicle description in the case. A license plate number on the site matched that of the car outside the motel, he said. "I felt my goosebumps raising," he said. Lakey told CNN that after calling his old colleagues at the Missouri State Highway Patrol, he packed up his family from their room at the motel and watched the arrest from across the street. Schaffner faces charges including bank robbery in Tennessee; burglary in Indiana; armed robbery in Illinois; and receiving stolen property in Ohio, Price said. He also faces drug charges in Missouri, she said. Schaffner is suspected of robbing banks in states including Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to the FBI. Schaffner is suspected in 14 robberies of various types in six states, FBI Special Agent Brian Truchon told CNN on Sunday. A spokeswoman for the Callaway County Jail, in Fulton, Missouri, said Schaffner was booked into the facility about 8 p.m. Saturday. No bond has been set, she said. Schaffner will appear in court Monday in Jefferson City, Missouri, according to Bridget Patton, spokeswoman for the FBI's Kansas City, Missouri, office. Schaffner was identified as a suspect last month after investigators posted surveillance photos from the robberies on electronic billboards throughout the South. In the photos, a man was seen sneering and holding a pistol sideways. The robberies began in May. While no one was harmed, the FBI said they considered the suspect dangerous. "This guy has made no effort to hide the gun," said FBI agent Kevin Keithley last month. "He has threatened the use of it in every bank robbery he has committed. He has put the gun in the faces of the tellers, threatened to use the gun against them. So we want to get this guy in custody before he harms anyone." A woman in Morristown, Tennessee, also told authorities Schaffner hid in her apartment in August and threatened to kill her children if she revealed his whereabouts, according to documents filed in federal court. When Schaffner was identified, the FBI said he was released from an Indiana prison last year following an armed robbery conviction. He also has several other convictions in Indiana, for crimes including burglary, resisting law enforcement, and purchase of a handgun without a license, according to the Indiana Department of Correction. The last bank robbery Schaffner is suspected of committing occurred in Caseyville, Illinois, on Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate KMOV. Two bank robberies occurred in Morristown and Jefferson City, Tennessee, on August 18, authorities said. The billboards began showing images from the robberies on August 24, and the next day, a man told the FBI that Schaffner was in the Morristown area at the time of the August 18 holdups. The man said he'd known Schaffner for about two months, according to a federal criminal complaint. FBI agents also interviewed a Morristown woman after hearing she'd had a brief relationship with Schaffner, the

NEW: Ex-trooper checked "America's Most Wanted" site after becoming suspicious . Chad Schaffner apprehended by police Saturday in Kingdom City, Missouri . Schaffner named suspect in at least 10 bank robberies in at least four states . Identification came after surveillance images posted on billboards in the South .

(CNN) -- A man authorities want to question in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl, whose body was dumped in a landfill, appeared in a Florida court Wednesday on child pornography charges after being extradited from Mississippi. Jarred Harrell, 24, faces 29 counts of possession of child pornography in Clay County, Florida. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler has said Harrell is also sought for questioning in the abduction and murder of Somer Thompson, but has not said why. Harrell was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi, by federal agents earlier this month, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to extradite him. The arrest followed a search of Harrell's residence, Clay County authorities said. Somer Thompson was last seen in the Clay County town of Orange Park on October 19. Her body was found in a landfill in Folkston, Georgia, about 55 miles north of there. Authorities have not said how she was killed. Somer's 10-year-old sister told police that Somer had been in a fight with another girl at school earlier that day and that she brought up the subject while she and her brother walked Somer home from school. Somer ran off, apparently upset. The sister said she lost sight of Somer in a group of other children leaving the school, according to a police report. Police said in October that witnesses including several children reported seeing her that day on a sidewalk in front of a vacant house that was being renovated following a fire. At Wednesday's hearing, a judge continued Harrell's $1 million bond.

Jarred Harrell, 24, faces 29 counts of possessing of child pornography . Police want to question him the death of Somer Thompson, 7 . Police in Florida have not said why they want to talk with Harrell . Thompson was abducted in October; her body was found in a Georgia landfill .

(CNN) -- A man charged in the beheading death of his seatmate on a Greyhound Canada bus last summer is not criminally responsible because he is mentally ill, a judge ruled Thursday, said CNN affiliate CBC News. The ruling means that Vince Weiguang Li will be hospitalized at a psychiatric facility until he undergoes a review by Manitoba's Criminal Code Review Board in 90 days, CBC said. "The goal of criminal law is to punish criminals, not persons who have a severe mental illness," Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Judge John Scurfield wrote in the ruling, CBC reported. However, the ruling angered relatives of Tim McLean Jr., 22, who died on the bus July 30. "The bottom line is, he is getting away with murder," Vana Smart, McLean's sister, told CBC. Watch how the verdict angers the victim's family » Prosecutors told reporters Thursday they had no choice but to ask the judge to find Li not criminally responsible. "This was justice because the correct conclusion was reached," prosecutor Joyce Dalmyn said, according to CBC. "Mr. Li is a schizophrenic. Mr. Li had a severe mental disease. Mr. Li, in my opinion and in the opinion of the psychiatrists, had no idea what he was doing was wrong." Li, 40, was charged with second-degree murder in McLean's death. A witness on the bus, which was headed from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, said a passenger repeatedly stabbed and then decapitated McLean as horrified passengers watched. Just before his death, the victim had been sleeping with his head leaning against the window. "There was a blood-curdling scream. I was just reading my book and all of a sudden I heard it," Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the two men, told Canadian TV at the time. She said the knife-wielding man shouted at the other passengers to get off the bus, and they did. "Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that," Caton said. "And when we all got up (to the door), we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy's head." Thirty-four passengers were on the bus. Police said at the time it was unclear what prompted the attack. Witnesses said Li's weapon was a large butcher knife. Li was arrested after an hours-long standoff, during which he remained in the bus with McLean's body. Police said he was seized after he broke a window and attempted to jump from the bus. "Mr. Li is also a victim here," said Ruth Ann Craig of the Canadian Mental Health Association, according to CBC. "What's going to happen to Mr. Li is not a cakewalk." He will be housed in a locked psychiatric ward, Craig said, while he undergoes assessment and treatment to determine whether he is a risk to himself or society. But Tim McLean's mother, Carol deDelley, said she will fight to change the law regarding these types of crimes. "I'm going to do everything I can to make a change here," she said, CBC reported. McLean's father said he is also disappointed with the ruling. "We've all lost a family member," he told CBC. "This isn't the right result."

Vince Weiguang Li will be hospitalized at a psychiatric facility . Ruling angers relatives of the victim, Tim McLean Jr., 22 . "This was justice," prosecutor tells Canadian television station .

(CNN) -- A man charged with murder in the deaths of 11 women pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday, said Ryan Miday, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, prosecutor. A grand jury has indicted Anthony Sowell on 85 counts, following the discovery of 11 sets of human remains at his Cleveland, Ohio, house in October. The charges include several counts of aggravated murder with a "mass murder specification," meaning multiple people were killed in a similar fashion, said Bill Mason, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor. Sowell, 50, faces rape and kidnapping charges as well and also has been charged with brutalizing three other women and raping two of them, Mason said. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Sowell. Investigators arrested him in October after authorities serving a search warrant in a rape case discovered the remains of six women in and around his house. Subsequent searches turned up the remains of five others. All 11 remains were of African-American women. Police used cadaver dogs Wednesday to search Sowell's childhood home, just outside Cleveland. "We're just trying to cover all our bases," said Scott Wilson, spokesman for the FBI, which is assisting local detectives in the case. Authorities have said they are looking at the unsolved slayings of three women in East Cleveland to determine if they share any similarities with the remains found at Sowell's house. The indictment against Sowell also alleges that he assaulted women on December 8, 2008, and on September 22 and October 20 of this year. The women in September and October were raped, and the other woman was punched and choked before escaping, Mason said. Sowell's charges in those cases include attempted murder, rape or attempted rape, kidnapping, robbery and felonious assault. Sowell has pleaded not guilty to charges in the September 22 rape. On October 20, neighbors reported seeing a naked woman fall from the second floor of his house. Firefighters responded and later notified police. But the woman told officers she fell off the roof while she was at the home "partying," police said earlier. No charges were filed at the time. Sowell threatened his victims and warned them not to contact police, Mason said. It's possible there are others, he added, and urged anyone who has not come forward to do so. Sowell "knew what he was doing was wrong at the time he was doing it," the prosecutor said. As of last month, Sowell was on suicide watch at the request of his public defender, Kathleen DeMetz. She had said a psychiatric evaluation of Sowell had been ordered but was unlikely to happen until after an indictment was filed. Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid told reporters this week that Sowell has been a "model prisoner," is kept in an isolated unit and has declined visitation requests. Most of the victims were strangled by ligature -- which could include a string, cord or wire -- and at least one was strangled by hand, officials said. Seven still had ligatures wrapped around their necks. The skull of one woman was wrapped in a paper bag and stuffed into a bucket in the home's basement. Sowell served 15 years in prison for a 1989 attempted rape and was released in 2005. He was required to register as a sex offender. After the discovery of the 11 women, police in mid-November used thermal imaging in an attempt to see if any additional human remains were on the property and dug certain areas by hand. No more remains were found.

Suspect pleads not guilty by reason of insanity . Anthony Sowell accused in deaths of 11 women . Remains of African-American women found at Cleveland, Ohio, house . Cadaver dogs also search Sowell's childhood home .

(CNN) -- A man coolly and calmly approached the screening area outside the Pentagon Thursday evening and opened fire, grazing two Pentagon police officers before they returned fire, critically wounding him, officials said. The incident happened at 6:40 p.m., when the man wearing a coat -- with "no real emotion in his face" -- approached the officers outside the Pentagon Metro station, said Pentagon Police Chief Richard S. Keevill. "As the officers started to ask him for his pass to get into the Pentagon, he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting immediately at the officers" from a few feet away, Keevill told reporters. "He drew a gun and just started shooting immediately." The two Pentagon Force Protection Agency officers returned fire with their semi-automatic Glock .40-caliber weapons and the suspect, thought to be a U.S. citizen, was critically wounded, Keevill said. He praised the police officers for acting "quickly and decisively to neutralize him as a threat" without hurting anyone else. Asked how many shots were fired, he said, "Many." Keevill would not identify the man. The Pentagon Force Protection Agency is the Pentagon's police department. Pentagon entrances were locked briefly but all were reopened with the exception of the Pentagon Metro entrance, the Pentagon said in a statement. Lisa McDonald, a spokeswoman for George Washington Hospital, said three people were being treated there -- both officers and the suspect. The Pentagon police department, the Arlington County Police Department, U.S. Secret Service and the FBI were all involved in the investigation, Keevill said. The Pentagon is one of the largest office buildings in the world with three times the floor space of New York's Empire State Building, according to its official Web site. Some 23,000 military and civilian employees work there. Are you there? Send images, video Though it contains 17.5 miles of corridors, a person can walk between any two points in the World War II-era building in no more than seven minutes. CNN's Mike Ahlers, Larry Shaughnessy and Jeanne Meserve contributed to this story.

NEW: Suspect shot at officers at Pentagon screening area, police said . NEW: Suspect was injured in return fire from two officers . Pentagon police say one person is in custody . Three people being treated at George Washington Hospital .

(CNN) -- A man described as a former employee shot and killed two people and seriously wounded another at a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, construction company before workers wrestled him to the ground, sheriff's officials said. Dianna Tullier, 44, of Walker, Louisiana, and Cheryl D. Boykin, 55, of Denham Springs, Louisiana were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. They were both clerical workers in the construction office. The suspect, identified as Richard Matthews, 53, of Slaughter, Louisiana, parked outside Grady Crawford Construction Co. shortly before 2 p.m. and entered a building, where he shot a female dispatcher, said Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Casey Rayborn Hicks. Hicks said Matthews then went into a second company building and killed two people inside. Matthews left the second building to reload his weapon, Hicks said. He re-entered that building, shot at and missed a fourth person, Hicks said. Four people then wrestled Matthews to the ground. One of them, a foreman at the construction company, put his finger between Matthews' finger and the trigger guard of Matthews' gun, stopping the gunman from shooting, Hicks said. The four people held Matthews down until police arrived. Matthews was transported to the sheriff's office in downtown Baton Rouge, Hicks said, and was being questioned. Hicks said police are uncertain if Matthews has prior arrests, mental health or substance abuse issues. Matthews will be booked on two counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, Hicks said. As he was escorted in for questioning, in response to a reporter's question about the shooting, the Matthews replied numerous times: "I couldn't get my unemployment, they wouldn't give me my unemployment." CNN's Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.

NEW: Victims from Walker, Louisiana, and Denham Springs, Louisiana, official says . Official: Worker put finger between trigger guard of gun to stop suspect from shooting more . Officials identify suspect as Richard Matthews, 53, of Slaughter, Louisiana . Suspect: "They wouldn't give me my unemployment" as he is escorted by police .

(CNN) -- A man died after his car plunged 600 feet off the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, authorities said Tuesday. About 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona each year. The Arizona park's regional communications center received several reports of a car driving off the edge about 6 a.m. Monday, according to a written statement. "Upon arriving at the scene, investigators found tire tracks leading to the edge behind the Thunderbird Lodge and received reports of a single occupant in a blue passenger car driving over the edge," the statement said. Rescue personnel descended on ropes and found the vehicle about 600 feet into the canyon. The man's body was recovered shortly afterward, the statement said. The incident occurred near the El Tovar hotel in a village on the canyon's South Rim, park spokeswoman Shannan Marcak said. Authorities have not ruled the death a suicide, she said. "It has not been ruled anything at this time." The statement said the National Park Service is investigating. Typically, Marcak said, such investigations take at least a few days. The man has not been identified, she said. Marcak said that within the past five years, she knows of only one other time a car was driven off the edge of the canyon. The Monday statement said plans were being made to retrieve the vehicle and the body. The Grand Canyon, a world famous landmark, receives close to 5 million visitors yearly, according to the National Park Service Web site.

Reports say car drove off South Rim of canyon about 6 a.m. Monday . Incident occurred near El Tovar hotel in village . National Park Service is investigating . Officials aren't sure that incident is a suicide .

(CNN) -- A man sees a 75-year-old man stuck on railroad tracks and pulls him to safety. An off-duty emergency worker pulls a woman from a van after it crashes into an icy pond. An NBA star saves a woman from drowning. A postal worker helps a mother whose baby is unconscious. A father goes into a house engulfed in flames to save two of his children, then returns to save the family's pet. These are examples of everyday people who, when confronted with a life-or-death situation, jumped in to do what they could -- and became rescuers and heroes. CNN.com takes a look at some of the stories of heroic acts that happened throughout the country in the past 12 months. Do you know someone who's an everyday hero? Tell us about them on CNN iReport NBA player saves woman from drowning Donté Greene is used to being looked up to. He is a 6-foot-11 player for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA. But on Memorial Day he became a lifesaver. Greene and some friends were on a boat in the American River near Discovery Park in Sacramento, California. Greene told CNN affiliate KCRA that he heard some yelling and then a splash. A woman had been pulling a ladder onto her boat, and she was thrown into the water when the driver pulled away. Greene saw the woman flailing in the water and dived in. "I honestly don't even think I was thinking -- I was just reacting," he told KCRA. "I was pretty confident in my swimming abilities." Read the story at the KCRA web site Off-duty EMT makes icy pond rescue Tony Gerdom, an emergency medical worker from Iowa, was driving off-duty on December 7 when the van in front of him suddenly swerved off the icy road and fell into a pond. The cold weather had frozen the locks and windows on the van, trapping driver Kathy Van Steenvik. Gerdom took a tire iron and smashed the van's passenger side window to free the driver. A second man, Brian Ford, held onto him with a rope while Gerdom descended into the pond. Each man shrugged off his hero label. "I'm just the lucky idiot that jumped in first," Gerdom told CNN affiliate WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. "No matter how cold the water was, it's this overwhelming feeling that I helped save a life. It's tremendous," Ford said. All three were treated at a hospital for minor hypothermia. Read the story at the WHO web site Postman delivers CPR to save baby In Sacramento, California, Robert Sweeney had just about finished delivering the mail on December 11, 2008, when he heard a panicked mother's cry for help. Her baby, 19-month-old Kelly Jimenez, appeared lifeless. Sweeney took the child, placed her on the grass in front of the woman's home and performed CPR while neighbors called 911. Sweeney revived the child before paramedics arrived, CNN affiliate KCRA reported. Sweeney told KCRA that the emotion of the moment didn't hit him until he got back in his truck to go home. That's when he started crying. "You don't ever think you would be in a situation like that," he said. Read the story at the KCRA web site Father saves children, family dog from burning home A Michigan father jumped through flames to save his two youngest sons when an electrical fire set their house ablaze December 7. Investigators told CNN affiliate WZZM in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that sparks from an electrical outlet set a living room curtain on fire. After climbing up pitch-black stairs to rescue his 4-year-old and 2-year-old boys, Jonathan Brito went back in the house and pulled out Punchy, the family's dog, who was unconscious. Brito performed CPR and revived the dog, Brito's wife, Charlene Hernandez, told the station. "He got the dog to breathe," she said. "[Punchy] coughed up some smoke

Heroic acts occurred across the country as reported by CNN's affiliates . Among them: A postal worker helps a mother whose baby is unconscious . Off-duty emergency worker pulls a woman from a van after it crashes into an icy pond . Man sees 75-year-old stuck on train tracks and pulls him to safety .

(CNN) -- A man shot and killed his wife and two of their children and then killed himself in central Florida on Sunday night, authorities said. Troy Ryan Bellar shot and killed his wife, Wendy, and two of their children, sheriff's officials say. Troy Ryan Bellar, 34, used a high-powered rifle with a scope to shoot his 31-year-old wife, Wendy, when she tried to leave their home, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Two of the couple's children -- 5-month-old Zack and 7-year-old Ryan -- also were killed, but a 13-year-old got away, with the father chasing and firing after him, officials said. "It is beyond my understanding why a man would shoot and kill his 5-month-old baby boy, his 7-year-old baby boy, try to kill his 13-year-old son, shoot his wife and then turn the gun on himself," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "There is no explanation for that." The shootings happened in Lakeland, Florida, just east of Tampa. When the shooting began, the couple's son, Nathan, ran out of the house and down the street -- with his dad chasing him through the garage and firing several shots, authorities said. Nathan was unhurt and will be placed with family members. Investigators do not know what led to the shooting, but believe it was preceded by "some kind of domestic disturbance," a statement from the sheriff's office said. Bellar was arrested twice in Polk County: for aggravated assault in 1994, and for driving under the influence in 1999. His wife was arrested in March for battery domestic violence.

Bodies of gunman, wife, 2 children found at Lakeland, Florida, home, officials say . Boy, 13, was chased down street, fired at, but got away unharmed, officials say . Gunman used a high-powered rifle with scope, authorities say .

(CNN) -- A man shot and killed seven patients and a nurse at a Carthage, North Carolina, nursing home Sunday before being wounded during a shootout with a police officer, authorities said. Relatives of the nursing home's patients gathered at a nearby church, where they learned details of the shooting. Three other people, including the police officer and a visitor to the nursing home, were wounded in the attack, Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said. The police officer was treated and released, McKenzie said. The slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger said. The man accused of carrying out the attack, 45-year-old Robert Stewart, was in custody, and his condition was unknown Sunday night, McKenzie said. Stewart was not an employee of the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center, and he did not appear to have been related to any of the patients, she said. "There is still more to be uncovered as far as his purpose in being there," she said. A witness told CNN affiliate WRAL-TV that Stewart was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and other weapons. The officer who stopped him, Justin Garner, "acted in nothing short of a heroic manner" and probably stopped the carnage from being worse, Krueger said. Watch stunned community react » Jerry Avant Sr. told WRAL that his son, Jerry Avant, a 39-year-old registered nurse, was the employee who was killed in the shooting. He said a doctor told him that his son had been shot more than two dozen times. Watch father of slain nurse and ex-wife of suspect react » The doctor "said he undoubtedly saved a lot of lives," Avant Sr. said, speaking of his son. Stewart faces eight counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony assault on a police officer, and other charges are pending, she said. Carthage is about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. See map showing Carthage, Raleigh » Sunday's slayings were the latest in a series of high-profile in March, including the killings of 10 people by an Alabama man who was then killed by police. In addition, a man shot and killed a pastor in a southern Illinois church and stabbed two parishioners, and a 17-year-old in Germany killed 15 people in two small towns before dying in a shootout with police. In Carthage, crisis counselors were setting up in the town's First Baptist Church to aid survivors of the latest killings. "I don't know the emotion entirely has set in," McKenzie said. "This is a small community built on faith, and faith will get us through."

Slain patients ranged in age from 78 to 98, district attorney says . Nurse also among those killed at nursing home in Carthage . Man suspected of carrying out attack was shot; condition unknown, police say . Police officer also wounded in shooting .

(CNN) -- A man shot his estranged wife to death, along with their son and grandson, before turning the gun on himself as police closed in, authorities in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, said Sunday. Police say Dennis Carter Sr. shot four family members, three fatally, before turning the gun on himself. Dennis Carter Sr., 50, also shot and critically injured his pregnant daughter-in-law, the parish sheriff's office said in a statement. The shootings occurred Saturday night in the town of Holden, Louisiana. Authorities were dispatched to a report of shots fired at a home about 10:40 p.m. Upon arrival, they found three people dead and the fourth -- Amber Carter, 25 -- in critical condition, the statement said. Those killed were Dennis Carter Jr., 26, Amber Carter's husband; their son Mason Carter, 2; and 49-year-old Donna Carter, mother of Dennis Carter Jr. and estranged wife of Dennis Carter Sr., police said. All had been shot to death. A 16-month-old child at the home was unharmed, authorities said. Deputies believe Amber Carter attempted to escape from the gunman by jumping from a second-story window, holding Mason in her arms, the statement said, but the boy did not survive his gunshot wounds. Amber Carter had several bullet wounds, said Perry Rushing, chief of operations for the sheriff's office, and authorities believe the gunman shot her in the back as she was attempting to get out the window while holding the child. She also may have been shot again after she got outside the home, Rushing told CNN. Amber Carter was flown to a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hospital, and later transferred to New Orleans, Rushing said. She was in critical condition as of Sunday morning. A neighbor in the area told deputies that he heard a gunshot and saw Carter Sr. walking to a car, a red El Camino, with a gun in his hand, the sheriff's statement said. At 11:30 p.m., a police officer in the adjacent town of Livingston saw the vehicle entering Interstate 12 heading eastbound, the statement said. A Livingston Parish sheriff's deputy followed the car and attempted to stop it. "However, the suspect shot himself with a handgun, in plain view of the officers, as the vehicle veered off the shoulder of the interstate near the Holden exit," police said. Records from the Livingston Parish Detention Center show that Dennis Carter Sr., of Hammond, Louisiana, had been jailed "on three separate occasions in 2009 alone, on three separate charges of violation of a protective order and one charge of aggravated assault (domestic)," the sheriff's office said. "At this time, there do not appear to be any other suspects or victims in this ongoing investigation," police said. Holden is about 35 miles east of Baton Rouge.

Dennis Carter Sr. killed his estranged wife, their son and grandson, police say . Police say he also shot his pregnant daughter-in-law, who is in critical condition . Carter drove away, then shot himself to death as police pursued, authorities say . Sheriff's office says Carter had record of domestic violence .

(CNN) -- A man sought in the slayings of a woman and her four young children in Oklahoma was arrested Tuesday night after a car chase in Texas, authorities said. Joshua Steven Durcho was arrested Tuesday after a car chase with police. Joshua Steven Durcho was arrested in Waco, Texas, after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper tried to stop the car Durcho was driving because the trooper suspected a drunk driver, according to Erin Mangrum of the Canadian County, Oklahoma, sheriff's office. The trooper checked the vehicle tag on the car and it matched the tag being sought by Oklahoma police, Mangrum said. Mangrum said Durcho's car sped off, but he later wrecked the vehicle, and Durcho was taken into custody. Durcho suffered minor injuries in the accident, Mangrum said. Officers found the bodies of Summer Rust, 25, and her children Monday in their apartment in El Reno, about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City. Rust's daughter Evynn was 3, son Teagin was 4, and daughters Autumn and Kirsten were both 7. Durcho is believed to have taken the slain woman's car, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. CNN affilate KOCO reported that Durcho had been spotted Monday night in Clinton, Oklahoma. His image was captured by surveillance cameras, the affiliate said, quoting police. Authorities would not reveal how Rust and her children were killed, pending the outcome of autopsies. Rust's mother, Susan Rust of Carson City, Nevada, said her daughter had been shot, but she did not know how her grandchildren had been killed. Watch authorities name Durcho as the suspect » Susan Rust said her daughter was loving and outgoing but tended to get involved with the wrong men. Durcho was unemployed and had been living with Summer Rust and her children, the mother said. Police were asked to check up on the family because Rust and Durcho had had a fight, she said. Summer Rust attended Redlands Community College in El Reno, where she majored in legal assistant training, according to school officials. Rust's mother said she was retraining after losing her job in casino security several months ago. "Summer was very bright, very outgoing, had a positive attitude and was very determined to complete her education," Julie Lamb of the college told CNN Radio. Lamb heads a student support program on campus. The school brought in grief counselors Tuesday to help students affected by the killings. Domestic violence groups also reached out to the students. A friend posting online described Summer Rust as "fun-loving" and "a little crazy kind of person" who was also very smart. "Her children were beautiful, funny and always cheerful and sometimes a little wild. They were a great bunch of kids and they loved each other very much. They were proud of their mom for going back to school," the friend said. "She was going to make a better life for her family. I can't believe something like this could happen to her and the kids. ... I will miss her silliness and her smile. I will miss them all."

NEW: Joshua Steven Durcho arrested after police chase in Texas . Durcho suspected in deaths of woman, four kids in El Reno, Oklahoma . Friends and relatives describe victim Summer Rust as bright, outgoing .

(CNN) -- A man stranded after his car plunged down a steep embankment in the Angeles National Forest survived for six days by eating leaves and drinking water from a creek, authorities said Friday. David J. Lavau, 67, of Lake Hughes, California, was found in a ravine a week after losing control of his car on a rural road and plunging 500 feet down an embankment into heavy brush, according to a report by the California Highway Patrol. Lavau, who is partially disabled, told authorities that he spent the first night in his car. "The next morning, he exited his vehicle and observed another vehicle adjacent to his own with a deceased male driver behind the wheel," the report said. "The deceased appeared to have been there for some time." Authorities say they have not identified the dead driver. The case began to unfold on September 23, when Lavau failed to return home. Lavau's family began searching for him when he failed to return home, driving the route and stopping at all the curves in the road from Castaic to his home in Lake Hughes. While Lavau's family searched for him, he "remained at the bottom of the hill surviving on leaves and water from a nearby creek," the report said. Lavau's son, Sean, found his father after hearing "faint yells for help on the roadway from the canyon below," according to the report. Sean Lavau hiked to the bottom of the canyon to find his father, the report said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department rescued Lavau and his son from the ravine. Lavau was taken to an area hospital where he was treated for moderate injuries, the report said. The CHP said Lavau's accident and the one involving the dead driver are under investigation. CNN's Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

California man survives on leaves and water from a creek after his car plunges into a ravine . Authorities: David Lavau's car came to rest near another that went off the road earlier . Lavau's family began to search for him when he failed to return home, the CHP says . Lavau's son found him after driving the route, stopping at every curve in the road, the CHP says .

(CNN) -- A man suspected in the slayings of his girlfriend and her four children admitted choking the Oklahoma woman to death, but said the children were not present at the time, according to an affidavit filed in the case. Joshua Steven Durcho was arrested Tuesday after a car chase with police. Joshua Steven Durcho, 25, was arrested Tuesday night in Hamilton County, Texas, officials said. He is suspected of killing Summer Rust, 25; her son Teagin, 4; and daughters Evynn, 3, and Autumn and Kirsten, both 7. All five bodies were found in Rust's apartment in El Reno, Oklahoma, about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City, on Monday. Durcho's first cousin notified authorities he found the body of Rust, who is identified in the affidavit as Summer Dawn Garas. Police also found the children's bodies in the apartment, according to the affidavit, written by a special agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and filed Tuesday in Canadian County, Oklahoma, District Court. "The Medical Examiner's Office has reported to our agents that the preliminary assessment of the cause and manner of death for all five individuals was asphyxiation, suffocation and strangulation," the affidavit said. "It was also reported that each body had ligature marks around the neck. The ligature marks were also observed by OSBI crime scene investigators." A spokeswoman for the state medical examiner's office told CNN on Wednesday that the cause of death for Summer Rust and Teagin was strangulation, and that a ligature -- which could include a string, cord or wire -- was used to strangle them. Autopsies on the three girls were being conducted Wednesday, the spokeswoman said. A woman told police Durcho came to her apartment Monday afternoon and told her he had "choked" Summer Rust to death and that he was leaving Oklahoma, according to the affidavit. The woman asked Durcho about Rust's children, the affidavit said, and "Durcho told her that the children were at their grandmother's residence ... while he and Summer worked out their relationship problems." The woman called Durcho's mother and told her what he had said about killing Rust, the affidavit said. Durcho's mother drove to the apartment to check on the woman, but no one answered her knocks. She then called her nephew, Durcho's cousin, to accompany her, leading to the discovery of Rust's body, according to the document. About 6:30 p.m. Monday, the affidavit said, Durcho went to the home of another cousin, a female, and told her "he was in trouble and that he was headed out of state." Durcho was driving Rust's 1989 white Ford Thunderbird, the document said, and asked his cousin to swap cars with him, but she declined. A surveillance video showed Durcho at a truck stop on Interstate 40 about three hours later, driving the Thunderbird, the affidavit said. Early Tuesday morning, a text message was sent from a cell phone in Durcho's possession to his mother's cell phone, according to the affidavit. Tracking and cell phone records showed Durcho's phone was located in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the time. Later that morning, Durcho called his mother, with the call shown to be from the Abilene, Texas, area, the affidavit said. Durcho's mother said "Durcho told her he loved her and had to go," according to the document. Police said Durcho was arrested after a car chase Tuesday night. A Texas state trooper attempted to stop the car Durcho was driving because the trooper suspected the driver was drunk, according to Erin Mangrum of the Canadian County sheriff's office. When the trooper ran the license plate on the car, it matched the tag number of a vehicle sought by Oklahoma police. The car sped off, Mangrum said, and during the ensuing chase the car crashed. Durcho suffered only minor injuries and was taken into custody, Mangrum said. A court hearing was to be held for Durcho on Wednesday in Hamilton County, according to CNN affiliates. The Hamilton County district attorney's office did not

NEW: Affidavit describes suspect's actions after slayings . Mother, son strangled with ligature, autopsy shows . Suspect arrested after chase in Texas . Family found dead in Oklahoma apartment on Monday .

(CNN) -- A man suspected of fatally shooting an Iowa football coach Wednesday was released from a hospital the day before, without the knowledge of police, who had asked to be notified, authorities said. Ed Thomas had been with the school district for more than 30 years and was well-known in the region. Mark Becker, 24, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Ed Thomas, 58, a longtime football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. Investigators believe Becker walked into the school's weight room, where Thomas was overseeing athletes' weight lifting, about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and shot him multiple times as about 20 horrified students looked on. Thomas was flown to a hospital, where he later died. "It's just too early to speculate" on a motive for the shooting, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Authorities said Becker was a former student at Aplington-Parkersburg, which is about 100 miles northeast of Des Moines, Iowa, and a former football player. The agency, however, noted that Becker had "recent contact" with police in Cedar Falls, Iowa, about 25 miles to the east of Parkersburg. On June 20, Becker led police on a high-speed chase after he allegedly broke into a man's house, according to a division statement. He was taken into custody, but early the next morning authorities determined he needed medical attention and he was taken to a hospital. Police asked to be notified when he was released, the statement said. But on Tuesday, Becker was released and spent the night at his parents' Parkersburg home before heading to the high school Wednesday morning, the division said. "Law enforcement was unaware that Becker had been released." Cedar Falls police earlier said in a statement that they responded June 20 to a report of a man breaking several windows in a Cedar Falls home with a baseball bat and driving his car through a garage door. Just before officers arrived, the man fled the scene in his car and was seen leaving the area. Becker was arrested after a pursuit that reached speeds of more than 80 mph, Cedar Falls police said. He was taken into custody by Butler County authorities and later taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, according to the statement. "Cedar Falls police was awaiting notification that the subject was to be released from custody in order to arrest Becker and file the charges relevant to the Cedar Falls incident," according to the police statement. He faces felony charges of criminal mischief and eluding authorities, along with traffic offenses, in the Saturday incident, Cedar Falls police said. Winker would not provide further details about why Becker was transported to the hospital. A 911 call was received at 7:47 a.m. Wednesday regarding the high school shooting, the Division of Criminal Investigation said. Becker was located in the driveway of his parents' home, where he was arrested without incident. Coincidentally, Becker had been released from the same hospital where his alleged victim died -- Covenant Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. Thomas had been with the school district since 1975 and was a regionally well-known coach, according to district Superintendent Jon Thompson. The coach's son, Aaron Thomas, spoke briefly to reporters Wednesday, saying that his father would want to be remembered not only as a coach, teacher and father, but also for his involvement in his church, calling him "a man of deep faith who touched many lives." "God always has a reason," he said. "At this time, it's very tough for us to understand that." He thanked the community for an outpouring of support, recalling residents' struggle to rebuild after a deadly tornado struck the Parkersburg area last year. But he also reminded residents to have concern and compassion for Becker's family. "We ask that people pray for them as well, and that people take time to comfort and be with them," he said. "I know that my father's legacy ... will live on,"

NEW: Mark Becker, who faces murder charges, had "recent contact" with police . NEW: Police say they weren't notified suspect was released from hospital . On June 20, Becker led police on a high-speed chase after an alleged burglary . Coach Ed Thomas has died after being shot inside a school .

(CNN) -- A man suspected of opening fire at a Tennessee hospital Monday, killing one and wounding another before killing himself, had a history of mental health problems, police said Tuesday. Investigators searching suspected shooter Abdo Ibssa's home found medicine for psychotic problems and a note indicating that Ibssa believed a doctor at the hospital had placed an electronic chip inside him during a 2001 appendectomy, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV told reporters Tuesday. "The suspect believed he was being tracked due to this chip," Owen said. Owen said family members had committed Ibssa to a mental health facility in February, but it was not clear when he had been discharged. Police said Ibssa shot three women outside the Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, Monday afternoon before shooting and killing himself. Rachel Wattenbarger, 40, died from gunshot wounds. The two survivors -- Ariane Guerin, 26, and Nancy Chancellor, 32 -- were taken to the trauma center at the University of Tennessee hospital. Owen said Tuesday that they were in stable condition. When Ibssa showed up at the hospital Monday afternoon, he asked for the doctor who had apparently performed his appendectomy. He was told the doctor was not there, Owen said, and later opened fire outside the facility. Owen said the .357 Magnum revolver used by the shooter was reported stolen from a residence in Knox County, Tennessee, in March. Police searching Ibbsa's home also found a Beretta .22 handgun and a book called "The Official CIA Manual of Tracking and Deception," Owen said.

Medicine for psychotic problems found at Abdo Ibssa's home . Ibssa believed doctor at the hospital had placed an electronic chip inside him . Suspect opened fire at hospital after asking for doctor who had performed his appendectomy . Police: Ibssa shot three women outside hospital before shooting and killing himself .

(CNN) -- A man was stabbed in the chest and 13 people were arrested after violence marred an English League Cup tie between Premier League side West Ham and east London neighbors Millwall. Millwall fans taunt West Ham supporters during their English League Cup tie. The 44-year-old man was stabbed in Priory Road, a few yards from West Ham's stadium as fans clashed with police before and after the match; police say he is now in a stable condition. During the match, which West Ham won 3-1, fans fought with police and stewards inside the stadium and play was temporarily suspended when numerous supporters invaded the pitch. Metropolitan Police chief superintendent Steve Wisbey, who was in charge of policing the match, confirmed his force were investigating the events and would seek to punish those responsible for the trouble. Commenting on the tie which has a tradition for trouble among rival fans Wisbey added: "Police worked closely with West Ham Football Club, British Transport Police and the local authority to minimize disorder. "Officers responded swiftly whilst missiles were being thrown as they tried to separate fans outside the ground after the match. "Incidents of this nature at a match are thankfully rare, but it would appear that a small number of supporters were intent on causing a confrontation. "A team of dedicated police officers will be reviewing all the events that took place and will be looking at CCTV both inside and outside the ground to identify evidence of offenses and offenders. "We will proactively seek to obtain football-banning orders for those responsible so they will not be permitted in stadiums throughout the country or abroad." The Football Association (FA), who are currently promoting England's bid to stage the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, have denounced the violence. "We absolutely condemn all of the disorder that has occurred at Upton Park, both inside and outside of the ground," an FA spokesman said. "We will very quickly be working with all parties, including the police and clubs to establish the facts surrounding the events. We expect all culprits to be banned from football for life - they have no place in our game." And West Ham confirmed they are assisting with investigations and would not hesitate to issue lifetime bans to those deemed to have been intent on causing trouble. A statement on the club's Web site said: "West Ham United will fully investigate the deplorable scenes that took place during the cup tie with Millwall on Tuesday evening. "The club will not tolerate the unacceptable behavior witnessed inside the Boleyn Ground and will take the strongest possible action against anyone found responsible, including life bans. "As was the case before, during and after the match, we are cooperating fully with the relevant agencies, including the police." The incident caps an troubled period for West Ham off the pitch following the stabbing of defender Calum Davenport and the death of the father of midfielder Jack Collison in a motorbike accident in recent weeks.

Violence marred the English League Cup tie between West Ham and Millwall . A 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and police made 13 arrests . Metropolitan Police are now identifying evidence of offences and offenders . West Ham, Millwall and the Football Association denounce troublemakers .