Guilty in bizarre robbery

Guilty in bizarre robbery

ERIE, Pa. — A man admitted Wednesday in federal court that he helped plot a bizarre bank robbery that ended when a bomb strapped around a pizza deliveryman’s neck exploded and killed him, the first conviction in the five-year-old case.

Kenneth Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy and a charge of aiding and abetting at a hearing in which prosecutors also revealed new details, based on a statement by Barnes, about deliveryman Brian Wells’ alleged involvement in the scheme.

According to Barnes, Wells tried to back out on the day of the robbery, Aug. 28, 2003, refusing to put on the collar-bomb after realizing it was real. Another plotter then fired a single shot from a gun, scaring him into putting it around his neck.

Barnes, 54, could be sentenced to life in prison, but his attorneys hope he will get a lighter sentence in exchange for his cooperation.

Utah mine collapse probe

WASHINGTON — Federal mining officials asked prosecutors Wednesday to decide whether criminal charges are warranted in the deaths of nine people in last year’s collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has been investigating two cave-ins in August 2007 at Crandall Canyon that killed six miners and three rescuers. MSHA already has fined Genwal Resources Inc., a subsidiary of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., $1.34 million for alleged violations that directly contributed to the deaths of six miners. Agapito Associates Inc., a Grand Junction, Colo., mining engineering consultant, was fined $220,000 for an allegedly faulty analysis of the mine’s design. They were the largest fines ever imposed on a U.S. coal mining operation.

Six miners were trapped on Aug. 6 in a cave-in and remain entombed more than 1,500 feet below ground. Three rescuers, including a government mine safety inspector, were killed in a second collapse Aug. 16 while trying to tunnel to the men.

Teen charged in threat

SELDEN, N.Y. — A teenage student accused of posting a threat against her school on her social-networking Web page was just trying to prolong her summer break, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The student, Tiffany Spatafora, 16, spent the first day of her senior year in police custody and court instead. She was released without bail after pleading not guilty to misdemeanor charges of aggravated harassment and falsely reporting an incident. She was charged as an adult.

Suffolk County police say the Newfield High School student’s Facebook page said she was “going to kill everyone in school, so don’t go,” but investigators found no evidence she had the means to carry out the threat. Detective Sgt. Frank Stewart called it “a statement of frustration.”

Man drowns in giant wave

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Police say an American tourist drowned after a giant wave swept him and two others away in southern Baja California.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed that Richard Harry Barr, 72, from Forth Smith, Ark., drowned in Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday.

State police investigator Enrique Wilar says the two other people managed to swim to shore.

Wilar said the three were taking a walk on a beach when they were swept away. The surf was unusually rough from the effects of Tropical Depression Karina.

‘Peanuts’ animator dies

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Bill Melendez, the animator who gave life to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other “Peanuts” characters in scores of movies and TV specials, has died. He was 91.

Melendez died Tuesday at St. John’s Hospital, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith.

Melendez’s nearly seven decades as a professional animator began in 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and classic animated features such as “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia.”

He went on to animate TV specials such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and was the voice of Snoopy, who never spoke intelligible words but issued expressive howls, sighs and sobs.

Baby killer’s life spared

DAYTON — An Ohio jury has spared the life of a woman who killed her infant daughter by microwaving her.

The jury told the judge Wednesday that it couldn’t agree on whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison for 28-year-old China Arnold.

Arnold now could spend between 25 years and the rest of her life in prison, depending on what Montgomery County Judge Mary Wiseman decides.

Associated Press