Police seek Wis. man for questioning in killings
Police seek Wis. manfor questioning in killings
SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- A 21-year-old Wisconsin man was being sought for questioning in the mysterious shooting deaths of an Ohio woman and her fianc & eacute;, who had been working as two camp counselors, according to a newspaper report.
Sonoma County detectives sent out a statewide alert Monday seeking Nicholas Edward Scarseth, of Chippewa Falls, Wis., the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported today.
"We have information he may have been in the area at the time of the incident," Sheriff's Lt. Dave Edmonds told the newspaper. "He could have information related to the case."
Edmonds wouldn't say why detectives are interested in Scarseth.
Scarseth was stopped Friday by police in Fort Bragg -- about 100 miles north of Jenner, where Lindsay Cutshall, 23, of Fresno, Ohio, and Jason Allen, 26, were found last week shot to death in their sleeping bags.
Sonoma County officials had sent out an alert for someone matching Scarseth's description. Fort Bragg police notified officials in Sonoma County on Sunday that they had talked with Scarseth. Edmonds said he did not know why Scarseth was stopped.
'Spider-Man Burglar'convicted in break-ins
NEW YORK -- A man dubbed the "Spider-Man Burglar" because of his ability to scale walls, leap from windows and swing on fire escapes was convicted Monday of breaking into offices and apartments in Manhattan.
Rufus Graham, 41, was also convicted of breaking into two schools.
Police officer Ray Gogarty testified that he saw Graham leap backward out a seventh-floor office window and land on the roof of a theater that was across a 10-foot alley and three stories below.
Graham pretended to be hurt until he spotted a fire escape, which he quickly slid down and vanished, the officer testified.
Graham, a former personal trainer, did not testify at the trial. His lawyer, Christopher Boyle, argued that the defendant was the victim of mistaken identity. He said Graham's admissions to police that he committed 10 of the burglaries had been coerced.
Because of a previous criminal record, Graham faces a sentence of 15 years to life when he is sentenced Sept. 22.
No asylum for Fischer
TOKYO -- Japan's Justice Ministry rejected former chess champion Bobby Fischer's demand for protection as a political refugee today and issued an order to deport him.
Fischer, in custody since he was detained by Japanese airport authorities July 13 with an invalid U.S. passport, immediately appealed the decision.
The former chess great is wanted in the United States for violating international sanctions against Yugoslavia in 1992, but he has alleged the charges against him are politically motivated.
The Justice Ministry would not say when Fischer would be deported, but ministry official Hideharu Maruyama said Fischer would most likely be sent to the United States.
"The justice minister's judgment was that there was no justification for Fischer's appeal," Maruyama said.
Polio spreads in Africa
GENEVA -- Polio has spread to new countries in Africa, further setting back global attempts to wipe out the disease, U.N. officials said today.
"Epidemiologists from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative today confirmed the reinfection of Guinea and Mali, as well as three new cases in the Darfur region of Sudan," said a statement from the World Health Organization and agencies.
The polio outbreak -- which threatens to turn into a major epidemic across central and west Africa -- has spread from northern Nigeria, a statement said.
WHO had been hoping to eradicate polio by next Jan. 1, but African immunization efforts stalled in the face of resistance in northern Nigeria's heavily Muslim Kano state.
Fake Dali art works
HELSINKI, Finland -- Hundreds of paintings confiscated from a Salvador Dali exhibition in Finland were forgeries, officials said Monday.
Police closed the Helsinki exhibition in June and impounded 450 graphic works, purportedly by the Spanish surrealist painter, after art collectors complained that the pieces they bought were fake.
About 150 other confiscated works of art -- including some reportedly by Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol -- also are believed to be forgeries, said Jyrki Seppala of the Helsinki Police.
"Our preliminary investigation indicates that 80 percent of the confiscated material supposedly by Dali are forgeries or copies of Dali's art that have been tampered with," Seppala said.
Associated Press