Nine newborn babies found buried in garden

By: Associated Press Wire Reports | Monday, August 1, 2005 9:24 PM PDT ∞

BERLIN (AP) -- Police discovered the remains of nine newborn babies buried in a garden in eastern Germany and arrested a woman believed to be their mother, prosecutors said Monday.

The bodies were found Sunday in Brieskow-Finkenheerd, a village near the Polish border, after police received a tip, said Michael Neff, a spokesman for prosecutors in nearby Frankfurt an der Oder.

Neff said the 39-year-old woman was believed to be the mother and was being held on suspicion of manslaughter. Her name was not released.

Investigators believed the children were born between 1998 and 2004 and died shortly after birth, Neff said.

6-year-old fatally shoots 2-year-old brother in Missouri

MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A 6-year-old girl playing with her father's gun accidentally shot and killed her 2-year-old brother at their home, authorities said.

Chase Yordt was killed Sunday morning. It was unclear where the girl found the handgun, Highway Patrol Sgt. Paul Reinsch said.

The bullet first hit the girl in the foot, Reinsch said.

The children's father, who has not been identified, is employed by the county jail, but the gun was not a county-issued weapon, said sheriff's Maj. Matt Schoo.

"It's a tragic accident," Schoo said.

The case is being reviewed to determine whether any charges will be filed against the parents, Reinsch said.

The father was working at the time of the shooting and the mother was at the home, located about 80 miles west of St. Louis.

Coming-of-age party ends with police confrontation, 9 arrests

WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) -- Deputies broke up a teenage girl's coming-of-age party with Taser stun guns, pepper spray and their elbows and fists after they were summoned to diffuse a fight over a spilled drink.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's office said the crowd of 300 was "unruly and hostile." Nine guests were arrested Sunday and one was taken to a hospital for face and head injuries.

Crystal Rodriguez, 15, said the deputies wrecked her quinceanera party, traditionally held in Latin American communities to mark a girl's 15th birthday.

"It just ruined our whole night. I was crying and crying and crying and everybody was trying to calm me down," she said.

Deputies used "pepperball guns, Tasers, batons, fist and elbow strikes" to disperse the crowd, Sgt. Edmund Suszczynski said in an incident report. He said up to 20 people who were attacking deputies fled after being struck, tasered or pepper sprayed.

Some guests said the fight, which began over a spilled drink on the dance floor, was over and people were trying to leave by the time deputies arrived.

The sheriff's office will review the incident, though "any crowd-control devices, when a deputy is threatened, appears to be justified," Lt. Jeffrey Lindskoog said.

Beetle never before seen in North America found in Mass. forest

BOSTON (AP) -- A species of beetle never before seen in North America has been discovered in a Massachusetts forest, but the Asian insect does not appear to pose an ecological threat, experts said Monday.

Twenty-two beetles belonging to the Xyleborus seriatus species of ambrosia beetle were found in April in traps set by state forestry workers in Southborough, about 25 miles west of Boston. Two or three more were trapped in nearby Stow.

The insects were sent to Cornell University to be studied.

They may have "hitchhiked" to the United States on wooden crates shipped from Asia, Cornell entomologist Richard Hoebeke said.

"My guess is that it has been around awhile and simply gone undetected because nobody was looking for it," said Hoebeke, who announced the finding in an e-mail to colleagues on July 20.

Each year, a dozen species of insects on average are discovered for the first time in the U.S., he said.

Some insects, such as the hemlock wooly adelgid, emerald ash borer and Asian longhorn beetle, can wreak havoc on wildlife habitat. However, most ambrosia beetles feed on fungi in dead or dying trees, not healthy ones.

"So far, it's not a cause for concern," said Glenn Rosenholm, regional spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

The new beetle is about two millimeters long and has brown legs and wings. Scientists are thinking about naming it the "Southborough beetle."

Teenager charged with murder after neighbor's body found in trunk

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- Three teenage boys were caught trying to dump a steamer trunk containing the dismembered body of a 16-year-old girl into a river, authorities said Monday.

One of the teens, Jennifer Parks' 18-year-old neighbor, Jonathan A. Zarate, invited her over to watch late-night television but became angry early Saturday, punching and then stabbing her in the basement, county prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio said.

Zarate used a long knife to dismember the body, then stashed it in the trunk for a day in his father's Jeep, the prosecutor said.

Zarate pleaded not guilty Monday to murder, weapons offenses and hindering apprehension. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Zarate, his 14-year-old brother and a 16-year-old were approached by a police officer early Sunday who became suspicious about their car parked on a bridge over the Passaic River. Authorities said the boys planned to throw the trunk into the river.

The juveniles, who were not named by authorities, were charged with unlawful disposal of human remains and tampering with evidence.

Zarate also was charged with employing juveniles in the commission of a crime.

DNA evidence frees man after nearly 18 years in prison in Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A man who spent 19 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit was released from prison Monday after new tests of DNA evidence cleared him.

Friends and family broke into applause when a county judge dismissed charges against Thomas A. Doswell. About 30 minutes later, Doswell walked out of the county jail a free man -- expressing thanks, not bitterness.

"I'm thankful to be home," he told The Associated Press from his mother's house. "I'm thankful justice has been served. The court system is not perfect, but it works."

Doswell, 46, was convicted in the 1986 rape of a 48-year-old woman at a hospital in Pittsburgh. At the time, he was the father of two young children.

He was sentenced to 13 to 26 years in prison and was denied parole four times because he refused to accept responsibility for the crime.

Prosecutors originally opposed DNA testing for Doswell, but a judge ordered it. When the tests came back last month showing that semen taken from the victim was not from Doswell, prosecutors filed motions to vacate his sentence and release him.

"These tests confirmed what Mr. Doswell has been saying from the moment he was charged, that he was innocent and that this was a misidentification brought about by police officers who may have engaged in misconduct," said Colin Starger of the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York.

The victim and another witness had picked out Doswell's photo from a group of eight shown to them by police.

At the time, Pittsburgh police identified mug shots of people charged with rape with the letter "R." Doswell insisted witnesses identified him as the rapist only because the letter "R" appeared under his mug shot.

His photo was marked because an ex-girlfriend had accused him of rape, but he was acquitted of that charge. Police officials say they no longer mark photos of rape suspects with an "R."

Authorities plan to compare the DNA sample taken from the victim with national databanks, but so far do not have any suspects.

Although Doswell spent nearly two decades in prison, neither he nor his family said they were angry.

"I couldn't walk around with anger and bitterness," said Doswell, speaking on a cell phone for what he said was the first time. "It would have done me more harm than good."

Doswell spent his years in prison getting an associate's degree, learning to speak Spanish and mastering seven musical instruments, including the guitar, saxophone, flute, drums and trumpet.

"I am so happy to be actually seeing him at home instead of in jail," said Crystal Glover, Doswell's girlfriend. "Now we can get on with our lives."

California man extradited from Thailand to Mexico to face child sex charges

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) -- A San Francisco businessman arrested in Thailand and indicted in U.S. federal court on three charges related to sex with children has been extradited to Mexico to face pedophilia charges in this country, authorities said Monday.

Thomas White arrived in western Mexico over the weekend, but declined to make any initial statement at his arraignment at a local court, on the advice of his lawyers.

He is accused of committing crimes related to sex with minors in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where he owns a home, 400 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Prosecutors accuse of him sexually abusing 14 minors in Puerto Vallarta after plying them with alcohol or drugs.

White was arrested in Thailand in 2003 at the behest of Mexican officials. He founded the brokerage firm Thomas White & Co. in 1978.

He owns homes in San Francisco and Thailand, as well as Mexico. The U.S. indictment says White traveled many times to the homes outside Bangkok and near Puerto Vallarta to have sex with children.

White is also accused of traveling to Prague, Czech Republic, to produce child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco.

White was indicted last summer in California on two counts of conspiring to travel overseas with the intent to have sex with children and one count of conspiracy to sexually exploit children.

Traveling overseas to have sex with children is a crime in the United States. Moreover, under an agreement between the United States and Mexico, suspects can be temporarily extradited to face trial in one country, and then be tried in the other country, before serving prison time in either.

Odds and Ends

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- With a stomach full of scrambled eggs, Jake dog-paddled his way into history.

Organizers of the South End Rowing Club's 10th annual Alcatraz Invitational -- a 1.2 mile swim from the infamous prison island to the San Francisco shoreline -- say the 65-pound golden retriever is the first canine known to have made the crossing.

He was the only dog among more than 500 swimmers who leapt into the chilly, choppy waters on Saturday, coming in 72nd overall. His time was 41 minutes and 45 seconds.

The crowd cheered as the 4-year-old pooch made his way onto solid ground, shaking sprays of water and dodging a woman who tried to put a medal around his neck.

"It was colder and rougher than we thought it would be," said Jeff Pokonosky, Jake's owner and swim partner. "Jake amazed me. He was very focused. He started out really fast. I was trying to slow him down. He increased his pace to stay with the pack."

The pair live in San Diego and swim 4 miles a week and bodysurf together. And Jake always eats scrambled eggs before a big swim.

Bill Wygant, president of the South End Rowing Club, said he was more than happy to allow a dog into the race, a first for the more than 100-year-old group.

"This swim is about personal challenge," Wygant said. "Whether you are dog or human, it's whatever you can achieve that counts."

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- A Taiwanese man is breathing easier after a surgeon removed a missing set of dentures from one of his bronchial tubes -- three years after he lost them in a fall.

Surgeon Chen Chun-lei said the unidentified man visited his clinic several days ago complaining of shortness of breath and a high fever.

The man had no idea the missing denture was the culprit, causing a mild case of pneumonia.

"He had looked for the missing dentures for three years but they were nowhere to be found," Chen said.

Chen operated after an X-ray detected an unknown object in one of his bronchial tubes -- what turned out to be the missing denture.

Chen said the 45-year-old man did not suffer serious breathing problems earlier, possibly because the lower denture of eight teeth had stuck in part of the bronchial tube but did not entirely block the passage of air.

"The patient might have needed to have part of his lung removed if the denture was not located before it caused severe damage," Chen said Monday. "He was a lucky man to find it when he did."

VERGENNES, Vt. (AP) -- Imagine the shock at Country Home Products when workers opened a box and five kittens came squirming out.

A customer in South Carolina had wanted to return a brush trimmer -- a gas-powered machine that cuts grass, weeds and brush -- and accidentally sent the kitties along in the FedEx box for the two-day trip to Vermont.

"My co-worker Alan Bean opened the box. Something moved. He jumped and he looked in again and there was five kittens," said Deb Peters, who works in the Country Home returns department.

The kittens are doing fine. The box had been stored in a barn, and the customer apparently sealed the box without looking inside, Peters said.

After opening the box Wednesday, Country Home employees dashed to the nearby Vergennes Animal Hospital and returned with bottles of kitten formula, which the kittens devoured.

The 3-week-old kittens were taken to Addison County Humane Society. Hazel, a black domestic cat whose kittens had just been weaned, is now a surrogate mother, providing a steady diet until they can eat solid food, said Jill Tucker, executive director of the Humane Society.

Peters, who already has three cats, said she wants to adopt the Siamese-looking kitten.

"The husband's not too keen on it," she said, "but this is kind of a special one, you know?"

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The dryer can't be blamed for eating these socks and undies.

Rusty Wayne Sills, 46, of Des Moines, was charged Thursday with fifth-degree theft for allegedly stealing women's panties, bras and socks from the laundry room at the Sun Prairie Apartments, said Lt. Jeff Miller, police spokesman.

When police searched Sills' home, they found hundreds of pieces of ladies lingerie -- and shoes. Miller said he did not know if Sills wore the stolen items.

Miller said a woman at the apartment complex reported missing items in January. The theft was caught on videotape, which police said led them to Sills.

Sills was convicted of burglary in Polk County in 1980 and again in 1983. In the spring of 1999, he was charged with stealing shoes from female students at Iowa State University; he was convicted of theft.

Sills was arrested again in August 1999 after a series of break-ins. Police confiscated about 500 pairs of shoes, as well as underwear, negligees and magazines. Sills pleaded guilty to burglary and was released in 2002.

This time, West Des Moines Police Lt. Jeff Miller said potential victims will be shown photographs of seized items. If they see something familiar, a detective will show them the articles.

"We have bags and bags of these items," Miller said.

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