Criminal Contempt
Two brothers were convicted of killing four people in December of 2000, under circumstances to gruesome to relate. In court, one brother lined up against the other. Almost a hundred witnesses were called, only five of whom testified for the defense, and then only for one of the brothers. They had shot a fifth victim in the head, but she survived to identify them. Neither showed any emotion when the verdict was read.
Irv Rubin managed to kill himself. He slit his throat and jumped over a railing, suffering severe head injuries when he landed two stories below at the federal detention center in Los Angeles. Rubin was the head of the Jewish Defense League, and last December had been charged with planning to bomb a mosque and the offices of an Arab-American Congressman. The 57-year-old Rubin, whose JDL activities had resulted in some 40 arrests over the past 17 years, had taken over from Meir Kahane who was later assassinated.
Eric Harris was a successful suicide at age 19, after he and a friend had murdered 13 people and wounded 21 others at Columbine High School in 1999. Some people thought they should have seen it coming. Someone who didn't was a probation officer who wrote the following after Harris and his blood partner were released early rom a special program for juvenile offenders: "Eric is a very bright young man who is likely to succeed in life. He is intelligent enough to achieve lofty goals as long as he stays on task and remains motivated." This, from a report released yesterday.
Saddam Hussein says he would be willing to negotiate compliance with the impending U.N. resolution to allow arms inspectors into his country, so long as it isn't just a pretext for the United States to stage an all-out IraqAttaq. The Iraqi president's comments, viewed by observers as a considering softening of his position, were made on the same day that three freighters left U.S. ports, apparently carrying tanks, apparently destined for the Middle East.
An unmanned American plane fired a missile that blew up a car in Yemen, killing the six people inside. The CIA said the six were Al Qaeda members, including higher-ups connected with the terrorist bombing of the U.S.S. Cole two years ago, in which 17 American sailors were killed. Yemeni authorities confirmed that explosives and other evidence was found in the wreckage.
Finally, a would-be Mafiosi was convicted Monday of the 1995 stabbing death of a teenager. John Petrucelli -- also known as Johnny Boy and Fat Face -- was 25 at the time he stabbed a 17-year-old, in an apparent attempt to emulate his father's murderous lifestyle. The mother of his victim confronted the killer two years after the murder and promised justice. "I said to him, 'If it takes my last breath, I will get you,'" she recounted outside court after the verdict. "Well, Johnny Boy, I got you." It took the jury four hours to reach a verdict.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
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