LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY "As you know, we're trying to raise some extra money here, getting rid of the old stuff we don't use anymore."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California,
on a garage sale of surplus inventory designed to lessen the state deficit.
Article, this page Slayings probe keys on kidnap suspect
ANTIOCH, Calif. - The kidnapping case of a woman held captive for 18 years in a secluded backyard compound took another turn Friday as authorities searched the home of her purported captor for evidence in the murders of several prostitutes, and new evidence surfaced of missed opportunities to arrest him years ago.
Officers executed a search warrant at Phillip Garrido's Antioch home for clues in the unsolved slayings, Contra Costa sheriff's Capt. Daniel Terry said.
Garrido, a sex offender, and his wife, Nancy, were charged Friday with kidnapping 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991.
Authorities said they held her and two children she had with Garrido as prisoners in a backyard encampment.
The couple pleaded innocent to a total of 29 counts, including forcible abduction, rape and false imprisonment. A judge ordered them held without bail.
Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf said a neighbor reported three years ago there were people living in tents in a backyard encampment at the home of Garrido.
The deputy who interviewed Garrido in November 2006 gave him a warning that people living outdoors was a code violation. The deputy did not go into the backyard of the house in an unincorporated area of Antioch, about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco, Rupf said.
2 convicted in '07 Florida gang-rape
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Separate Florida juries convicted two men in the gang sexual assault of a mother and attack on her son during a home invasion two years ago.
The first jury deliberated 5 1 /2 hours Friday before convicting 20-year-old Tommy Poindexter. A second jury returned less than two hours later, convicting 18-year-old Nathan Walker.
The two were tried together but with separate juries in Palm Beach County.
A third defendant, Avion Lawson, 16, pleaded guilty and testified against Poindexter and Walker. A fourth defendant, 17-year-old Jakaris Taylor, is set for trial next month.
The mother was repeatedly raped and her son beaten by 10 masked, gun-toting teens in 2007. They also forced her to perform oral sex on her son.
Lynching victim's coffin going to D.C.
CHICAGO - The glass-topped coffin that displayed lynching victim Emmett Till's disfigured body to the world and became a rallying point for the civil-rights movement is headed to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, Till's family announced Friday.
"Hopefully, when this casket, when it's on display at the Smithsonian, young boys and young girls from all over the world are going to see it and it's going to inspire them to fight for those who are too weak to fight for themselves," said Simeon Wright, Till's cousin.
Friday's announcement at the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ came on the 54th anniversary of the day Till was killed. It follows last month's discovery of Till's original coffin in a storage shed at a suburban cemetery where former workers are charged with digging up corpses and reselling burial plots.
Jackson's death is ruled a homicide
LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's death was a homicide caused primarily by the anesthetic propofol and another sedative, the coroner announced Friday in a ruling increasing the likelihood of criminal charges against the pop star's doctor.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office determined the cause of death was "acute propofol intoxication." Lorazepam, another sedative sold under the brand name Ativan, contributed to the death.
The 50-year-old Jackson died June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion. Dr. Conrad Murray, the Las Vegas cardiologist who was the pop star's personal physician, told police he gave Jackson propofol that morning after a series of sedatives failed to help Jackson sleep.
Murray has not been charged with any crime but is the target of what police term a manslaughter investigation.
Murray's attorney, Edward Chernoff, said he was disappointed the full autopsy report wasn't released. Without that, it was impossible to seek independent expert opinion on the significance of the various drugs detected.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 08/29/2009