DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT

Death penalty sought
INDIANAPOLIS -- A judge assigned death penalty-certified public defenders Tuesday to represent two men accused of gunning down seven family members during a robbery, three of them children. Desmond Turner, 28, was expressionless as he was led into the Marion Criminal Courtroom of Judge Robert Altice. Altice appointed the public defenders and set initial hearings for today for Turner and co-defendant James Stewart, 30. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said he would file formal murder charges against both men in the June 1 killings and planned to seek the death penalty. Brizzi described the scene inside the Indianapolis home where the seven bodies were found as a "house of horrors." Police found three generations of family members, each shot in the head and torso. The youngest was 5 years old.
Babies: not on 6-6-06
NEW YORK -- Around the country, some superstitious mothers-to-be took steps Tuesday to make sure their babies were not born on the most bedeviling of dates, 6-6-06. In New York, "people are canceling left and right because of what today represents," said Liza Washington, an administrative assistant at Children's Hospital of the New York-Presbyterian Medical Center. More than a dozen deliveries were postponed because of 666, which is said to be the "Number of the Beast" in the Book of Revelation. Many of the expectant mothers had been scheduled to deliver babies by Caesarean section or after doctors artificially induced labor. Julie Haley, 33, of Reading, Mass., went into labor Monday. As of Tuesday afternoon, she still had not given birth. "We were going to try to get it out before midnight or I was going to keep my legs closed," she said. "I don't want her to have that stigma for the rest of her life. When she gets older, her friends would say that anything bad would be because of her birthdate."
Back in mother's arms
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Late last week, Stephanie Lynn Anderson Jones told the manager of her mobile home park that she had just had a baby -- news that came as a surprise to the manager. "I said, 'I didn't even know you were pregnant.' She said it was a small baby," recalled Kloma Clark. On Tuesday, Jones, 33, was arraigned on charges of kidnapping and abandoning a child. She is accused of snatching a newborn from her mother over the weekend. The baby, Priscilla Nicole Maldonado, 5 days old, was discovered Monday in a car seat abandoned beneath a condominium carport in 104-degree heat. A tip had led authorities to Jones, and Jones led them to the baby in the carport less than four miles from the mobile home park, police said. Jones was jailed on $150,000 bail. Her attorney, Jack Stoffregen, would not comment on the charges. No one answered the door at the Jones home. The baby was in stable condition Tuesday.
Villagers evacuated
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Officials evacuated 11,000 villagers from around Mount Merapi volcano as it shot out lava and superheated clouds of gas, authorities said Tuesday. The mountain's lava dome has swelled in recent weeks, raising fears that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas and debris into populated areas. The government of nearby Magelang district mobilized more than 40 trucks and cars to evacuate about 11,000 villagers from three subdistricts near the foot of the mountain, said Edy Susanto, a district official. He said the villagers were taken to temporary shelters, including school buildings. Red-hot lava flowed as far as a half-mile from the mountain's crater, while gas clouds called pyroclastic flows streamed as far as 1 1/2 miles down its southwestern slope, Subandriyo said. The 9,800-foot mountain is one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Leader extends deadline
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stepped back from a political showdown with his Hamas rivals, giving the Islamic militants several days to recognize Israel or face the voters in a referendum on the idea. Abbas, a moderate, has been pushing the Hamas-led government to accept a proposal that calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, implicitly recognizing the Jewish state. Abbas believes the plan will help lift the economic pressure on the Palestinians and allow him to pursue peace talks with Israel. Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has balked at the plan, demanding changes in the language, calling for more time to discuss it and saying it won't give in to deadlines. "We are giving enough time, about three days, for our brothers in Hamas to reconsider their position," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas also heads. Hamas officials welcomed Abbas' offer to extend their dialogue but repeated their opposition to deadlines on the referendum. Abbas initially gave Hamas until Tuesday to accept the plan. Officials said Abbas agreed to the delay at the request of unspecified Arab leaders.
Associated Press
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