Attorney says Anna Nicole Smith tried to revive son; officials consider charges in death

By: Associated Press - | Wednesday, September 13, 2006 10:20 PM PDT ∞

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Anna Nicole Smith frantically tried to revive her stricken son and had to be sedated after he died, her attorney said Wednesday. Authorities termed the death "suspicious" and said criminal charges could be filed.

Daniel Smith died Sunday while visiting his mother, a reality TV star and former Playboy playmate, in her hospital room three days after she gave birth to a baby girl.

"The devastation and grief over Daniel's sudden death coupled with the sedation has been so extreme that Anna Nicole experienced memory loss of the event," attorney Michael Scott said.

The chief inspector of the Bahamas coroner's office on Wednesday called the death of the 20-year-old Smith "suspicious" and a formal inquiry that could lead to criminal charges was scheduled for next month.

Police also revealed that a third person was in the hospital room at the time of the death.

But Scott said that the third person was another one of Anna Nicole Smith's attorneys, Howard K. Stern.

He said Anna Nicole Smith and Stern continued efforts to revive Smith even after he had been proclaimed dead by staff at Doctors Hospital in Nassau.

"Anna Nicole was so distraught at the loss of Daniel that she refused to leave his side and it was necessary to sedate her in order to check her out of the hospital," Scott read from a prepared statement.

He said she suffered memory loss and that it "was necessary for Howard to tell Anna again that Daniel had passed away," he added.

Authorities said they believe they know what killed Smith but were waiting for a toxicology report to confirm the findings.

Anna Nicole Smith, who went to the U.S. Supreme Court this year to sue for an inheritance, was in seclusion in the Bahamas with family and friends, Scott said. The identity of the newborn girl's father has not been publicly disclosed.

"You would expect any parent who sustained this kind of loss" to seek seclusion, Scott said.

A jury inquest, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to start Oct. 23, and Anna Nicole Smith will be required to attend, coroner Linda P. Virgill said.

"Whenever there is a suspicious death we would have an inquest to determine how the person died," Bradley Neely, chief inspector of the coroner's office, told Associated Press Television News.

The autopsy and toxicology reports will not be made public until the inquest is held, to avoid prejudicing the jury, Virgill said.

Jurors will meet in a courtroom inside a weathered, pink-pastel judicial building in the seaside capital, Nassau. If the inquest, which will be open to the public, determines a crime was committed, the case would be sent to the attorney general's office.

Virgill said there was no sign of physical injury to Smith, who was seen helping make his 38-year-old mother comfortable before he died. Anna Nicole Smith noticed him slumped in a chair Sunday morning and called for help. Hospital staff unsuccessfully tried CPR and other measures to revive him.

Scott dismissed media reports that Anna Nicole Smith's son had antidepressants or other drugs in his system.

"It's sheer speculation. It's irresponsible speculation, may I point out," he told reporters.

Ferguson, the assistant police commissioner, told the AP that no drug paraphernalia or traces of illegal drugs were found on Daniel Smith, in the hospital room or near the room.

Police believe Daniel Smith went directly to Doctors Hospital in Nassau after arriving in the Bahamas by plane, Ferguson said.

Daniel Smith was the son of Anna Nicole and Bill Smith, who married in 1985 and divorced two years later. The son had small roles in her movies "Skyscraper" and "To the Limit." He also appeared on the E! reality series "The Anna Nicole Show."

Anna Nicole Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year.

She then feuded with Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, over her entitlement to the tycoon's estate before he died in June at age 67.

Smith won a $474 million judgment, which was cut to about $89 million, and eventually reduced to zero. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Smith could continue to pursue her claim in federal courts in California, despite a Texas state court ruling that Marshall's youngest son was the sole heir.

-- Associated Press writer Andrew Selsky contributed to this report from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On the Net:

http://www.annanicole.com

Whitney Houston files for divorce

LOS ANGELES (AP) ---- The tumultuous marriage of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown ---- which withstood drug addiction, Brown's numerous arrests, the decline of Houston's once-sparkling image and domestic abuse allegations ---- is coming to an end.

A publicist for Houston confirmed to The Associated Press that the Grammy-winning, superstar singer had filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage.

Publicist Nancy Seltzer declined to reveal where or when Houston filed the divorce papers, and said the singer had no statement to make.

"I can just confirm that she has filed for divorce," Seltzer said Wednesday.

Brown's lawyer said Houston had filed papers for a legal separation.

Houston and Brown, who had a home in Alpharetta, Ga., have one child, a 13-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

When they wed in 1992 the union seemed to outsiders to be a mismatch. Houston ---- once one of the best-selling singers in history ---- was a glamorous, pop superstar with a super-clean, princess-like persona, whereas Brown, who rose to fame as a member of the boy band New Edition before striking out on his own, was a sometimes coarse R&B singer with a more street-wise image.

But as the years wore on, it would become hard to determine which one was more troubled. Brown ---- best known for hits like "My Prerogative" and "Every Little Step" ---- would be arrested numerous times for drugs and alcohol, while Houston's own battles with substance abuse sullied her image.

Together, the two were a tabloid editor's dream. When Brown was released from a stretch in jail a few years ago, an ecstatic Houston greeted him by jumping into his arms and throwing her arms and legs around him before a throng of fans and media.

And in a 2002 ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, an erratic-sounding and wan-looking Houston, with a profusely sweating Brown by her side, admitted dabbling in drugs but denied using crack, then uttered the now famous phrase: "Crack is wack."

Houston checked into a drug rehabilitation program in 2004 and again in 2005, announcing the second time that she was also using prayer to help overcome her drug problems. Brown said at the time he was doing what he could to help her.

"It takes two to make things work, so I have to be there for her just like she was there for me when I went through my rehab stint," he told "Access Hollywood".

The couple did separate for a time a few years ago, but their marriage endured, despite rumors and speculation. Their life was put on display last year with Brown's reality series, "Being Bobby Brown" on Bravo. The show actually made Brown look like a stable influence, while a jittery Houston was on display; the couple often crudely talked about their marriage and love life.

But earlier this year, the speculation of a possible split intensified. Brown's sister made headlines when she alleged in a National Enquirer interview that Houston was addicted to crack. She also supplied photos of what she said was Houston's bathroom, littered with garbage and evidence of drug use.

Phaedra Parks, an entertainment lawyer in Atlanta who represents Brown, said he told her Wednesday that Houston recently filed paperwork in California seeking a separation.

"It is a legal separation. It is not a divorce or a divorce petition," Parks said.

Parks said she has not seen the documents and didn't know which court they were filed in.

Asked about speaking with Brown, Parks said, "Bobby's not speaking with anyone at this time."

Recently, Houston has made attempts to clean up her public image. On Tuesday night, she attended a public event with cousin Dionne Warwick and mogul and mentor Clive Davis in Beverly Hills. And she is working on an album of new material; she hasn't released a record since 2002.

Houston, 43, won multiple Grammys in the 1980s and 1990s, including two for the megahit "I Will Always Love You," from the 1992 film "The Bodyguard," in which she also starred opposite Kevin Costner.

"I Will Always Love You," won Grammys for record of the year and best female pop vocal, and "The Bodyguard" soundtrack won album of the year.

Houston also won Grammys in 1985 and 1987 for best female pop vocal for "Saving All my Love for You" and "I Want to Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)." She won a Grammy for best female R&B vocal in 1999 for "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

Her musician husband recently reunited with New Edition for a show at July's Essence Musical Festival. The show got mixed reviews from the audience when Brown jumped suggestively around the stage and made vulgar remarks about his sex life with Houston.

-- AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York and staff writer Harry Weber in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Australian under investigation, suspected of sending billions of spam e-mails promoting Viagra

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- An Australian man is under investigation for sending more than 2 billion junk e-mails in one year to promote Viagra, an official said Wednesday.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority began investigating the man, whose identity was not immediately released, after receiving a tip from Dutch authorities last year.

Its chairwoman, Lyn Maddock, said officials had searched the man's home and were examining the evidence. She said more than 2 billion e-mails were sent to Internet users around the world. The authority declined to give further details while the investigation was under way.

Under Australia's 2003 anti-spam law, Australian residents who send unsolicited commercial e-mails, even from outside the country, are subject to penalties ranging from about $164,000 per day for first-time corporate offenders to about $823,000 per day for repeat offenders.

Danyel Molenaar, a project manager for the Dutch Independent Regulator of Post and Telecommunications, said the man had rented 35 servers -- for more than $10,000 each per month -- from a small Internet service provider in the Netherlands.

"These 35 servers were used just for sending spam day-in, day-out for at least a year, probably longer," Molenaar said. "This operation probably sent out billions and billions of e-mails."

The method does not appear sophisticated.

Peter Coroneos, chief executive for Australia's Internet Industry Association, said high-volume spammers don't usually use servers owned by commercial Internet service providers to generate their e-mails because they are generally too easy to trace.

Instead, sophisticated spammers take command of individual computers infected with viruses and use them as remote servers for sending spam. The method is virtually impossible to prosecute because spammers can take over an unsuspecting user's computer, send millions of e-mails in a few hours and leave without a trace.

Scottish clan gets new leader after 150 years and bitter court battle

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) -- In days of yore, clan chiefs ruled rugged swaths of Scotland as their fiefdoms, collecting taxes, calling men to arms, and deciding land disputes.

These days, clan chiefs get little more than a coat of arms, a motto, and a personal tartan for kilts -- although the title does carry considerable prestige.

But that didn't stop Ranald MacDonald from waging a bitter two-decade-long court battle to be named chief of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch -- a title that has been dormant since 1848 when the 21st chief died without a male heir.

Persistence paid off for the 75-year-old MacDonald: The Highland clan installed him as its leader on Wednesday.

"The record has been set straight," the retired hearing aid specialist told The Associated Press. "That is the point."

MacDonald's claim was contested by clansmen who claim that his ancestor, Alexander MacDonald, was born out of wedlock in 1832 and corrupted the bloodline.

Rory MacDonald, a historian of the Keppoch clan that is a branch of the larger Clan Donald, said many clansman will continue to refuse to recognize MacDonald as their leader.

"You cannot become clan chief without the acceptance of your clan. We will not recognize this," he said.

But Hugh Peskett, an expert on Scottish heraldry and editor of the Scottish edition of Burke's Peerage, said the matter has been settled beyond any doubt.

While investigating MacDonald's claim, he looked at old papers at the New Register House in Edinburgh, which has public records dating to the 1550s. The genealogist was able to trace MacDonald as a direct descendant of Donald Gorm MacDonald of Inverroy, who was the fourth son of Alistair Buidhe, the 14th chief of the MacDonalds of Keppoch.

"This case is proven," Peskett said. "I do not think any chiefship has been so soundly tested in the courts for a long, long time. But there are people who do not like the decision by the court. This is just sour grapes by bad losers."

MacDonald's case rested on the concept of "sloinneadh" (pronounced SLO-ny-ug) -- a Scottish Gaelic word referring to the genealogy of the male line handed down orally. Peskett said he tracked MacDonald's birthright through an old woman who had lived in clan territory all her life and had carried on the oral tradition of keeping local history alive.

The court case wasn't quite as simple, however.

It began in 1986 and twice went before the Court of the Lord Lyon, Scotland's heraldic tribunal. From there it went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh. In 1990, the Lord Lyon ruled against MacDonald on the grounds that his ancestor was an illegitimate child. MacDonald appealed, presenting further evidence in 1995, but again lost. He was then able to take his case to the Court of Session, and in 2004, the judges said sloinneadh could be relied on to prove MacDonald's heritage.

There are 247 clans in Scotland -- half of which don't have a chief. Clan disputes are notoriously fierce and have often ended in bloodshed in years past.

In the 17th century, Alexander MacDonald, chief of the MacDonalds of Keppoch, and his younger brother Ranald were stabbed to death by rivals seeking to usurp the title. Their murderers were hunted down and beheaded.

The MacDonalds of Keppoch -- whose motto is "By Land And Sea" -- were the first clan to rally to the Scottish Jacobite cause that sought to restore the Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland. Hundreds of members of the clan, including the chief, were wiped out at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 when the uprising was crushed by forces of the Duke of Cumberland.

Although their role in Scottish society has been marginalized, many look at family bloodlines with pride.

"Clan societies give a sense of belonging to something in the past -- a sense of identity," said Roddy Martine, a social commentator and author of "Scottish Clan & Family Names, Arms, Origins & Tartans." "That is presumably the reason why over 15 million people in the USA claim Scottish descent."

MacDonald was presented with a parchment from the Court of the Lord Lyon, which officially recognizes him as the clan chief. He was given the parchment by Sir Crispin Agnew of Locknaw, a member of the Lyon Court for the Rothsay area of Scotland.

Former N.J. governor tells Oprah he had affair with man

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ---- Former Gov. James E. McGreevey revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he was having an affair with another man while his wife was hospitalized for the birth of their child, according to audience members.

The nation's first openly gay governor told Winfrey he believed he was in love with the man, who would become a central figure in his downfall, said two audience members who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity. Winfrey asked them not to divulge the contents of the broadcast, which was taped in Chicago on Tuesday.

A dozen friends of McGreevey who attended had to sign confidentiality agreements for Regan Books, which is publishing McGreevey's political memoir. The hourlong program will be broadcast Sept. 19, the day McGreevey's much-anticipated "The Confession," hits bookstores and he embarks on a national book tour.

McGreevey, 49, stunned the nation on Aug. 12, 2004, when he said he had been involved in an affair with a man and would resign. McGreevey later identified the man as Golan Cipel, though Cipel has repeatedly denied being gay. Allen Lowy, the lawyer who represented Cipel, would not comment Wednesday.

In the interview, the audience members said Winfrey explores McGreevey's lifelong struggle with his sexuality.

McGreevey recounted going to the library as an adolescent to look up the word "homosexual" in a dictionary. When he found it included terms like "perverse" and "psychiatric disorder," the Irish-Catholic said he quickly learned to repress his feelings, audience members said.

The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from a list of mental disorders in 1973.

The interview also explores how McGreevey came out to his wife and parents, how his life is more authentic today, and what life is like with Australian financial adviser Mark O'Donnell, whom he refers to as his "life partner," the audience members said.

O'Donnell also appears on the program, audience members said.

McGreevey has been publicly silent since stepping from the public eye. A lawyer, he has pursued education policy initiatives, including work on behalf of a Kean University campus in China.

Winfrey landed the interview with McGreevey because of her sense of faith and spirituality, according to friends of the former governor. McGreevey is said to be a fan of Winfrey's education and anti-poverty work, two issues to which the former governor is devoting more time in his post-political life.

Women plead not guilty in LA hit-and-run deaths of transients

LOS ANGELES (AP) ---- A pair of elderly women pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they murdered two transient men in hit-and-run crashes so they could collect on the victims' life insurance policies.

Helen Golay, 75, and Hungarian-born Olga Rutterschmidt, 73, were being held without bail. Each woman faces two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for financial gain in the deaths of Paul Vados, 73, a Hungarian native, in November 1999, and Kenneth McDavid, 51, in June 2005.

At a hearing Wednesday, Superior Court Commissioner James Bianco denied Golay's request to use makeup, get tweezers to pluck her eyebrows, wear her own clothes and be awakened no later than 7 a.m. on court days.

"I certainly understand the difficulties of confinement," but sheriffs need time to bring her from her Lynwood jail to the downtown Los Angles courtroom, Bianco said.

Authorities allege that Golay and Rutterschmidt befriended the two transients, convinced the men to sign them on to their life insurance policies and then collected some $2.3 million after running them over in secluded alleys.

The murder charges carry special allegations that could make the women eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue the death penalty.

Rutterschmidt's attorney, Michael Sklar, challenged the legality of conspiracy charges against his client, but Bianco ruled that the charges could stand. Sklar also said he had not yet received evidence from the state.

Bianco ordered the district attorney's office to provide Sklar with discovery by Sept. 22. Bianco also scheduled a next court hearing for Oct. 5, when a date for preliminary hearings would be set.

Outside the courthouse, Golay's lawyer, Roger Jon Diamond, explained his client's unusual request for makeup and other personal items.

"Any lady would want to be well groomed to make an appearance in court," he said. "If she looks haggard and not well groomed and she appears in the press, then a jury pool would be affected by that."

Federal authorities arrested the two women in May and charged them with mail fraud in connection with the insurance scheme while the murder investigation progressed. The fraud charges were dropped when the state murder charges were filed.

When the women were arrested, Golay had her hair in a high bouffant, and it appeared that way again in her first court appearance. Since then, her hair has fallen and appears frizzy and disheveled.

Robbins, Mirren to be honored at Mill Valley film festival

MILL VALLEY (AP) ---- Tim Robbins and Helen Mirren will be honored at this year's Mill Valley Film Festival in northern California.

The Robbins tribute is set for Oct. 11 and will include an on-stage conversation with the activist actor and director, as well as clips from the 47-year-old actor's films, including "The Shawshank Redemption," "Bull Durham" and "The Player."

His new movie, the apartheid-era drama "Catch a Fire," will be shown Oct. 10 and 14.

Mirren, the 61-year-old British actress, will be similarly honored with an on-stage interview Oct. 7. Mirren was nominated for Oscars for her performances in "Gosford Park" and "The Madness of King George," and has starred in the long-running public television series "Prime Suspect."

She stars in the upcoming film "The Queen" as Queen Elizabeth II, set in the days following Princess Diana's death.

This year's festival, which runs Oct. 5-15, features 231 films from 43 countries.

"After 29 years, we're a mature organization that has developed a reputation nationally and internationally," said festival founder Mark Fishkin, executive director of the California Film Institute. "When you look at what's happening this year at the festival, it's the culmination of three decades of work."

On the Net:

http://www.mvff.com

Jane Fonda praises scolding of Lindsay Lohan

NEW YORK (AP) ---- Jane Fonda praised a studio executive's recent scolding of Lindsay Lohan for her absences on the set of their film, "Georgia Rule."

"I think every once in a while, a very, very young person who is burning both ends of the candle needs to have somebody say, 'You know, you're going to pay the piper, you better slow down.' So I think it was good," the 68-year-old actress told "Access Hollywood" in an interview to air Tuesday.

In July, James G. Robinson, CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, chided Lohan, 20, in a letter for her behavior on a movie set and doubted her absence was related to heat exhaustion. "We are well aware that your ongoing all-night, heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called 'exhaustion,"' he wrote.

Fonda agrees.

"She's in the magazines, so you always know what she's doing because you can just read about it in the tabloids," she says. "She parties all the time ... And you know, she's young and she can get away with it. But, you know, it's hard after a while to party very hard and work very hard. She learned that, I hope."

Lohan's publicist, Leslie Sloane, did not immediately return an e-mail from The Associated Press late Tuesday.

Lohan plays a troubled teen in "Georgia Rule," which co-stars Fonda and Felicity Huffman. The film, currently in production, is expected to be released next year.

Fonda is still sympathetic toward Lohan, who is estranged from her imprisoned father Michael Lohan.

"I just want to take her in my arms and hold her until she becomes grown-up," she says. "She's so young and she's so alone out there in the world in terms of structure and, you know, people to nurture her. And she's so talented."

On the Net:

http://www.accesshollywood.com

LAPD submits case against Paris Hilton to city attorney's office

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Police Department has submitted to the city attorney's office its case against Paris Hilton, who was arrested last week on suspicion of driving under the influence, an office spokesman said.

Lawyers will review the case to determine whether to file charges against the 25-year-old heiress, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

"We will submit our decision by the Sept. 28 arraignment date," he said Tuesday.

Hilton was arrested Sept. 7 in Hollywood after officers stopped her for driving erratically. Police said her blood-alcohol level was 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit in California.

Hilton said she had had one margarita and denied driving erratically.

Penalties for a first drunken-driving offense typically include a fine, probation, an alcohol-rehabilitation program, license suspension and "other DUI-related conditions" such as community service, Velasquez said.

Hilton is the star of "The Simple Life" reality show and recently launched a music career with last month's release of her CD, "Paris."

Florence's remnants near Canada; Gordon stronger, but no threat

MIAMI (AP) ---- Hurricane Florence's remnants brought high winds and heavy rain to the Canadian coast on Wednesday, while a strengthened Hurricane Gordon and a tropical depression in the open Atlantic weren't threatening land, forecasters said.

Florence's remains brought wind gusts of more than 100 mph and bands of rain to southern and southeastern Newfoundland, as well as dangerous surf, according to the Canadian Hurricane Center. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for those areas.

It was now an extratropical storm, getting its energy from the collision of warm and cold fronts, not the steamy ocean waters that tropical systems feed on.

Out in the central Atlantic, Gordon had top sustained winds near 110 mph, making it a Category 2 storm. It became the third hurricane of the Atlantic season Tuesday night but was destined to remain over open waters and was not expected to threaten land, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Gordon was centered about 570 miles southeast of Bermuda and moving north near 12 mph, forecasters said.

"It's possible that some waves could make their way toward Bermuda, but right now the forecast track has Gordon well to the east of Bermuda," hurricane specialist Michelle Mainelli said. The British territory shouldn't get even tropical storm force winds.

The eighth tropical depression of the season was becoming better organized off the coast of Africa. It formed Tuesday, had top sustained winds near 35 mph and could become a tropical storm by Thursday, forecasters said. Helene is the next name on the list; winds in a tropical storm are at least 39 mph.

"As far as the tropical depression, for now it's only a concern to shipping in the Atlantic," hurricane specialist Jamie Rhome said.

The depression was centered about 445 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde islands and was moving west near 18 mph, according to the hurricane center.

The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The National Hurricane Center's latest forecast for the season expects between seven and nine hurricanes.

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Navy chaplain convicted of disobeying orders by wearing uniform at White House protest

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) ---- A military jury found a Navy chaplain guilty Wednesday of disobeying an order by appearing in uniform at a White House protest.

A jury of five officers deliberated for an hour and 20 minutes before deciding Lt. Gordon J. Klingenschmitt disobeyed a superior officer's order that he could be in uniform if conducting a "bona fide worship service."

The penalty phase began immediately after the verdict. Klingenschmitt could be docked two-thirds of his pay for a year and reprimanded.

A superior officer had told Klingenschmitt he could appear in uniform at media appearances only if conducting a "bona fide worship service."

Klingenschmitt contended that his appearance at a March 30 news conference, held at the White House to protest a Navy policy requiring nondenominational prayers outside of religious services, qualified as a worship service.

Cmdr. Rex A. Guinn, the prosecutor, told the jury during closing arguments of the special court-martial that the case was "about an experienced military officer receiving a clear order to not do something."

Guinn said it did not matter that Klingenschmitt did not make a speech at the news conference. He said Klingenschmitt violated the order by deliberately engaging the media when he showed up at the event without receiving prior permission and handed out fliers to reporters in which he likened his actions to the civil disobedience of Rosa Parks.

Last December, the Evangelical Episcopal priest went on an 18-day hunger strike in front of the White House over the right to invoke Jesus' name outside such services.

Woman gets life sentence for hammer killing

EASTON, Pa. (AP) ---- A judge convicted a 73-year-old woman of first-degree murder Wednesday for killing her older neighbor with 37 hammer blows to the head and sentenced her to life in prison without parole.

Kathy MacClellan declined to speak on her own behalf before receiving her sentence and rocked in her chair as the judge imposed it.

She was found guilty of attacking 84-year-old Marguerite "Tuddy" Eyer with the claw end of a hammer on Feb. 7, 2005, in a mobile-home community north of Bethlehem, which is about 45 miles north of Philadelphia.

Eyer identified MacClellan as her killer before she died in the emergency room, and police testified that MacClellan's face, hair and clothing had been covered in Eyer's blood. Prosecutors did not discuss a motive.

"Your conduct cannot be discounted because of your age," Judge Emil Giordano told MacClellan.

MacClellan had been scheduled to plead guilty Monday to third-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of 17 to 39 years in prison. But the judge ordered a nonjury trial after she refused to agree to the facts of the case as laid out by Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.

MacClellan had earlier waived her right to a jury trial when prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.

MacClellan told police she went to Eyer's house with cookies and a photo album and found her bleeding on the floor, authorities said. She said she got on top of Eyer and moved her arm around because she thought that would comfort her, and got Eyer's blood on her, according to testimony.

The defense did not put on a case. Defense attorneys Anthony Martino and Mark Minotti declined to comment after the sentencing.

Hundreds attend funeral for 6 children killed in Chicago fire

CHICAGO (AP) ---- Hundreds of residents from a working-class neighborhood gathered Wednesday behind six white caskets at the funeral for the children killed in an apartment fire over Labor Day weekend.

The service at St. Jerome's Catholic Church began with singing and the quiet strumming of a Spanish guitar. Mourners listened to a speaker read an essay written by the oldest child who died in the fire. The essay was about her mother.

"I am very proud of her because she has had to work very hard since she was little because she was very poor," according to the essay written by 14-year-old Vanessa Ramirez.

Friends have said Augusta Tellez came to the United States from Mexico to give her children a better life, and her daughter thanked her for providing her and her siblings "a better education and a place to sleep."

Five of those killed were from the same family. In addition to Ramirez, they were Erick Ramirez, 12; Suzette Ramirez, 10; Idaly Ramirez, 6; and Kevin Ramirez, 3. The family was baby-sitting the sixth child, 3-year-old Escarlet Ramos.

The fire department said the blaze Sept. 3 was apparently started by a candle the family was using because the apartment had no electricity. Authorities also said there were no smoke detectors.

The church bell tolled once each time a casket was carried out into the rain and placed in one of six silver hearses lining the corner.

As the hearses pulled away, area resident Jose Maya-Ruiz said neighbors have expressed frustration with the circumstances surrounding the children's death.

"It's another example of human cruelty," he said. "We're supposed to be human beings but we are very inhumane sometimes. Six children are dead and the question is why. This is a shame in the First World."

Tellez and a 3-month-old girl were treated for smoke inhalation. Two other children remained hospitalized Wednesday with second- and third-degree burns, said family spokeswoman Lorena Chambers.

Tijuana police find helicopter, possible body of missing Texan

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) ---- Police have found a crashed helicopter in the Mexican border state of Baja California and three bodies, one of which is to believed to be of Texan wildlife consultant Lloyd Kolbe who went missing 14 years ago, authorities said Wednesday.

Officials at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana said that Kolbe's son Darren Kolbe was traveling to Mexico to identify the body, which was found in the mountains on Tuesday.

Lloyd Kolbe disappeared in 1992, while on a helicopter trip in the Baja California mountains to study a rare species of wild sheep. He was accompanied by fellow investigators Gonzalo Medina Gonzalez and Rafael Rebollar Bustos.

Baja California state police said they are working to determine the cause of the crash.

Texas governor Rick Perry telephoned Baja California governor Eugenio Elorduy to inquire about the finding, according to officials in Elorduy's office.

Photos sent to mother show different boy, investigator says

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ---- The photos of bound and gagged boys that were sent to an Iowa woman whose son disappeared 24 years ago were investigated in the late 1970s and are not her missing son, a retired Florida sheriff's investigators said Wednesday.

Nelson Zalva, who now works for the Hillsborough County, Fla., State Attorney's Office, said he investigated the same photos while working for the county's sheriff in 1978 or 1979.

"I remember this case," he said. "I identified the kids portrayed in the photos. It was definitely investigated by me several years prior to the disappearance of Johnny Gosch."

The photos were in an envelope left at the West Des Moines home of Johnny's mother, Noreen Gosch, on Aug. 27.

One photo, in black and white, shows a boy bound and gagged on a bed. Another is a color photo of the same boy in a similar pose with two others boys.

Noreen Gosch turned the photos over to police, who have been investigating the authenticity of the photos and any connection her son.

Johnny was 12 when he disappeared from his neighborhood before daybreak on Sept. 5, 1982. His photo became one of the first of a missing child to be put on a milk carton. Police have said they believe he was abducted but they have few clues.

Zalva said his investigation never resulted in an arrest because the children in the photos never admitted that the suspect touched them inappropriately. He said the boys in the photos had voluntarily posed for the photos, but he couldn't recall why.

"Basically, what happened is someone, maybe it was one of the parents, found the photos and called the sheriff's office and deputies went out there, impounded the photos and the case was assigned to me for investigation," Zalva said. "I worked a long time on it, getting the kids identified."

Lt. Jeff Miller, a West Des Moines Police spokesman, said the investigation is continuing into who left the photos at Noreen Gosch's house.

"If they are not of Johnny Gosch, someone is playing a horrible prank," he said.

Miller said Gosch has been informed of the Florida investigation.

A telephone message left Wednesday morning for Gosch was not immediately returned.

Poisoned pigeons plummet to pavement in Texas

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) ---- Poisoned pigeons began nose-diving into pavement and dying on downtown sidewalks, marring the city's annual festival.

Authorities cleaned up more than 25 sick or dead birds that apparently had eaten poisoned corn from the roof of a nearby bank branch.

"The death of these pigeons was more than an unfortunate accident," local CapitalOne Bank President Lacy McMillen said in Tuesday's online edition of Texarkana Gazette. "It was not the intention of the bank to harm any of these birds."

McMillen said the bank hired an exterminator to handle its pigeon problem after a bird entered the bank and defecated on a customer.

The company hired, Anti-Pest Co. Inc. of Shreveport, La., said its goal with the treated corn was to sicken pigeons so they would leave the rooftop. Death was sometimes an unfortunate side effect, company president Jarrod Horton said.

A similar pigeon control effort at a hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., led to a hazardous materials incident in July. Emergency workers spent hours searching the hospital grounds and putting dead birds in red hazardous-waste bags after an exterminator use a pesticide to get rid of pigeons on the roof. Fire Chief Robert Farstad had described the scene as birds "coming down like dive bombers."

Vera Martin, working at Texarkana's weekend Quadrangle Festival, said the poisoning in the Texas-Arkansas border city sends a bad message to children.

"I think it's cruelty to animals," she said. "What other animals could be killed in the process of doing this?"

Study: Neanderthals survived thousands of years longer than thought

NEW YORK (AP) ---- Were these the last Neanderthals?

Small bands of them took refuge now and then in a massive cave near the southern tip of Spain. Now a study says charcoal from their fires indicates that Neanderthals were still alive at least 2,000 years later than scientists had firmly established before.

"Maybe these are the last ones," said Clive Finlayson of The Gibraltar Museum, who reported the findings Wednesday with colleagues on the Web site of the journal Nature.

The paper says the charcoal samples from the cave, called Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar, are about 28,000 years old and maybe just 24,000 years old.

Experts are divided on how strong a case the paper makes.

Neanderthals were stocky, muscular hunters in Europe and western Asia who appeared more than 200,000 years ago. They died out after anatomically modern humans arrived in Europe some 35,000 to 40,000 years ago and spread west into Neanderthal territory.

Scientists have long been fascinated by the last days of the Neanderthals. Were they doomed because they couldn't compete with the encroaching modern humans for resources, or because they caught new germs from the moderns, or because of climate change? Did the two groups have much contact, and what kind?

They didn't appear to encounter each other in Gorham's Cave. More than 5,000 years separate the last traces of the Neanderthals from the earliest evidence of modern humans, Finlayson said. He believes the area near the cave contained small bands of Neanderthals and of advancing moderns at the same time, but over a large and varied landscape. So it's not clear if the two groups ever met, he said.

The Neanderthals probably roamed a large area and used the cave periodically as a place to cook, eat and sleep, he said. The cave has yielded butchered bones of such animals as wild goat and red deer, and remains of mussels and shellfish. At the time of the Neanderthals, the Mediterranean Sea was about three miles away; rising sea level has since brought the water to within a few dozen yards.

Experts said the region is a likely place to find the last vestiges of Neanderthals, because it's the tip of a geographic cul-de-sac that leads away from central Europe.

Eric Delson of Lehman College in the Bronx and the American Museum of Natural History, who did not participate in the research, said the paper's 28,000-year-old date seems secure but that its case for Neanderthal presence after that is shaky.

Even the older date is the only clear evidence of Neanderthals anywhere after 30,000 years ago, he said. But there have been prior claims of "the last Neanderthal" that were eventually shot down, and whether this one will hold up remains to be seen, he said.

Other experts are less convinced.

Paul Mellars, a professor of prehistory and human evolution at Cambridge University, said he believes the range of radiocarbon dating evidence in the paper suggests ages more like 31,000 or 32,000 years for the charcoal. Contamination by younger material might have skewed some radiocarbon results toward more recent dates, he observed.

Even with the older dates, the paper would be important because it would represent one of the last Neanderthal occupations in Europe, he said.

But paleoanthropologist Richard Klein of Stanford University said it's questionable whether the charcoal fragments really date Neanderthal presence. Neanderthal artifacts appear to be sparsely distributed in the deposit, and their spatial relationship to the charcoal needs to be specified more clearly, he said.

Finlayson said he's comfortable with the 24,000-year figure and called the 28,000-year estimate conservative. There's no evidence of contamination with younger material and chemical analysis argues against it, he said.

As for the Neanderthal artifacts, he said, their location within the excavated site shows they're associated with the dated charcoal. And there aren't any artifacts from modern humans associated with the charcoal, he said.

On the Net:

Gibraltar Museum on Gorham's Cave: www.gib.gi/museum/gorham's%20cave.htm

Neanderthal information: www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/neand.htm

Feds breakup 30-year-old drug ring

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ---- The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it has shattered a drug operation that started among high school buddies in Roseburg, Ore., 30 years ago and grew over the years to become an international operation that took in more than $20 million.

Eleven of the 12 people named in a federal indictment are in custody after arrests Wednesday in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Idaho. Most are from Oregon.

U.S. Attorney Tom Moss of Boise, Idaho, said the arrests followed a classic strategy of "follow the money."

The 194-page indictment, handed up in Boise in June but sealed until Wednesday's arrests, said the operation began by growing and selling marijuana. But, the indictment said, it expanded to include smuggling of drugs from Mexico and South America, growing large quantities of marijuana indoors and on public lands, and manufacturing methamphetamines.

The government seeks forfeiture of more than $24 million in assets including boats, planes, business interests and real estate in five states.

U.S. attorney spokeswoman Jean McNeil said more arrests could follow and that those in custody likely would be sent to Idaho after court appearances where they were arrested.

The case was handled in Idaho because it stemmed from the case of a convicted Clearwater, Idaho, drug trafficker, Leland Lang, who allegedly was supplied with large amounts of drugs by the operation.

In addition to drug distribution and money-laundering charges, six of the defendants are charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a minimum 20-year sentence.

"Lee Lang was a major distributor, and he was getting his drugs from somewhere," Moss said. "We wanted to find out where, and now, thanks to the hard work and dedication of more than a dozen law enforcement agencies, I think we have."

Gerald Francis McDonald, 55, of Costa Mesa remained at large Wednesday. Two others, Gregory Sperow, 55, and Dennis Hammons, 59, already were in federal detention.

In the 1980s McDonald and Sperow were convicted in California of involvement in conspiracies to import and distribute 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 200,000 pounds of marijuana.

The indictments outline long histories of drug violations among the defendants.

Those detained Wednesday were Kent Allen Jones, 51, Vancouver, Wash.; Mark Daniel Kitzman, 49, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Harold Carl Ballenger, 54, Bend, Ore.; Jerod Lee Keyser, 31, Priest River, Idaho; Robert David Long, 52, Eugene, Ore.; Mark M. Alders, 54, Lakeside, Ore.; Damon John Marsh, 37, Portland, Ore.; Mark William Pursley, 32, Vancouver, and Dale Eugene Barker, 55, of Evergreen, Colo.

Jones, Sperow, Kitzman, McDonald, Ballenger and Hammons face the continuing criminal enterprise charges.

Detailed lists of property the government wants run from bank accounts and businesses to vacant property, interests in housing developments, a 1933 Ford Coupe roadster and a boat slip at Portland's Waverly Yacht Club. The property is in Idaho, Oregon, California, Colorado and Hawaii.

The indictment lists more than 470 overt acts and alleges illegal drug activities by some defendants dating to 1975.

It says the defendants used a variety of money-laundering techniques and relied on prepaid disposable cell phones and phone booths to avoid detection.

It said much of the criminal activity was carried out with the help of a lawyer identified in the indictment only as "attorney A."

It said the suspects used shell corporations that included real estate groups, tire companies, a construction company, a wire rope company and what appears to be an airplane parts business.

The indictment outlines an elaborate network of meetings, planes, boats, cars and trucks used in the enterprise as well as car rental records, phone records and records of bank activities. It says the organization bought a twin-engine DC-3 to bring cocaine from Colombia.

The indictment makes no specific reference to the high school connection, but McNeil said the attorneys felt there were enough bits of information "to come to that conclusion."

Fifth person charged in group assault case

MILWAUKEE (AP) ---- A fifth person was charged in the case of an 11-year-old girl who authorities say had sex with as many as 20 people as a 16-year-old girl coached her.

The boy was charged in juvenile court with being a party to sexual assault of a child. He admitted that the girl performed oral sex on him during a Labor Day party, according to court documents filed Monday.

The 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy already face similar charges.

Freeman Gurley, 40, the 16-year-old's uncle, and Darnell Chaney, 17, were also charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Nine people have been arrested in the case, police said Wednesday. Police are also looking for three more suspects, two adults and a juvenile, Capt. David Zibolski said.

Also Tuesday, the girl's grandmother appeared in Milwaukee County Children's Court on Tuesday to determine whether the state needs to put the girl in foster care. The results of the hearing were sealed.

Alderman Mike McGee attended the hearing but wouldn't disclose the outcome.

McGee said the girl, who has had HIV since she was born, was doing better Tuesday and has received many gifts from the community, "to help get her mind on something constructive."

Australian under investigation for suspected spamming

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) ---- An Australian man is under investigation for sending more than 2 billion junk e-mails in one year to promote Viagra, an official said Wednesday.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority began investigating the man, whose identity was not immediately released, after receiving a tip from Dutch authorities last year.

Its chairwoman, Lyn Maddock, said officials had searched the man's home and were examining the evidence. She said more than 2 billion e-mails were sent to Internet users around the world. The authority declined to give further details while the investigation was under way.

Under Australia's 2003 anti-spam law, Australian residents who send unsolicited commercial e-mails, even from outside the country, are subject to penalties ranging from about $164,000 per day for first-time corporate offenders to about $823,000 per day for repeat offenders.

Danyel Molenaar, a project manager for the Dutch Independent Regulator of Post and Telecommunications, said the man had rented 35 servers -- for more than $10,000 each per month -- from a small Internet service provider in the Netherlands.

"These 35 servers were used just for sending spam day-in, day-out for at least a year, probably longer," Molenaar said. "This operation probably sent out billions and billions of e-mails."

The method does not appear sophisticated.

Peter Coroneos, chief executive for Australia's Internet Industry Association, said high-volume spammers don't usually use servers owned by commercial Internet service providers to generate their e-mails because they are generally too easy to trace.

Instead, sophisticated spammers take command of individual computers infected with viruses and use them as remote servers for sending spam. The method is virtually impossible to prosecute because spammers can take over an unsuspecting user's computer, send millions of e-mails in a few hours and leave without a trace.

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