10A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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NATION
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2002
Jury sentences officer who admitted to killing wife
The Associated Press
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md. — A military jury Wednesday gave a 25-year prison sentence to a lieutenant colonel who admitted killing his wife during an argument about pornography, an Army spokesman said.
Bartlett, 46, pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder at his Sept. 30 court-martial, saying he beat and strangled his wife as they fought about his use of the Internet to view pornography. He said he struck her two dozen times on the head with an iron pestle and strangled her with a computer cord in the couple's home at the Army War College in Carlisle.
Lt. Col. David Bartlett also will be dismissed from the service and forfeit pay and benefits. He will serve his sentence at Fort Leavenworth.
A jury of eight colonels and lieutenant colonels deliberated for three hours Wednesday after two days of testimony at Fort Meade in his sentencing court-martial.
A tearful Bartlett apologized to his sobbing in-laws for killing Suzanne Bartlett.
"I can't imagine the pain that I've caused you," he said. "You trusted me with taking care of your daughter and I failed you."
Bartlett reported his wife missing the day after the killing, saying she didn't return from a walk. Her body was found in a creek.
He had faced premeditated murder, assault and obstruction of justice charges and a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors reduced the murder charge and dropped the other charges under a plea agreement.
The Bartletts had lived on the War College base since 1999 with their three young children.
Feds block local questioning of sniper suspects
The Associated Press
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Questioning of the two sniper suspects was halted when federal agents took custody of the pair, possibly preventing investigators from obtaining information about the shooting spree, a local law enforcement source complained Wednesday.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio disputed that, saying neither suspect was "yielding any useful information." He also said federal law required they be taken before a federal magistrate once they asked for a lawyer.
The dispute was one of the very earliest clashes among prosecutors over which jurisdiction would take the lead role in pursuing a case against John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17.
After a three-week manhunt covering the entire Washington region, Muhammad and Malvo were arrested Oct. 24 at a Maryland rest stop on a federal charge and were questioned that morning by members of the multi-agency sniper task force.
Later that day, after investigators received calls from DiBiagio, the two were taken into federal custody, the local law enforcement official said.
Task force investigators complained they were trying to develop a rapport and may have been able to obtain valuable information.
However, a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pair were providing little information to interrogators and invoked their right not to speak without a lawyer.
The Justice Department official said Malvo would not even admit he was in the car with Muhammad when the two were arrested, saying only things like "I'm hungry" or "Leave me alone so I can get something to eat."
Task force officials complained that the federal government's decision ended potentially valuable interrogations, the local law enforcement source said.
"He was talking," the source said of Muhammad. "There was certainly a great deal of information that remained to be gleaned from him."
DiBiagio, however, told task
force investigators that he had orders from the White House and the Justice Department to take the suspects, and could not be talked out of doing so, the source said.
Muhammad and Malvo did not give any indication they were prepared to confess, the source said.
DiBiagio and the FBI issued statements Wednesday, denying the White House was involved in the decision to take Muhammad and Malvo into custody.
Gary Bald, the FBI's special agent in charge, said he was in touch with DiBiagio throughout Oct. 24 and "there was never any reference to taking any action as a result of Justice Department or White House pressure or requests."
DiBiagio said he advised local investigators that federal law required Malvo, a juvenile, be brought before a federal magistrate "forthwith" and Muhammad "without unnecessary delay."
Montgomery Deputy State's Attorney John McCarthy called the U.S. Attorney's office at 3 p.m. that day to say Muhammad had
asked for a lawyer. At that point "questioning had to cease" and the suspect had to be taken before the magistrate, DiBiagio said.
But the local law enforcement source said the task force wanted the government to dismiss the federal gun charge, a misdemeanor, and allow Montgomery County to file six murder charges against the suspects. That request was denied, the source said.
Responding to DiBiagio's statement Wednesday, Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said McCarthy's call was to say Muhammad and Malvo were on their way to Baltimore for a federal hearing, not that Muhammad invoked his right to a lawyer.
Whatever the case, Robert Cleary, a former federal prosecutor in New Jersey who headed the Unabomber case, said: "It is never good when prosecuting authorities are at odds with each other. It can only serve to hurt the case."
It can also damage the public perception that justice is being served, said Nicholas Gess, a former Clinton administration Justice Department official.
"It's important from the public's perspective that they have confidence there is unity among the people doing this," he said. "I hope if there is squabbling, it's short-lived."
The interrogation account, first reported in Wednesday's New York Times, illustrates the rising tensions between federal and local authorities over who will prosecute Muhammad and Malvo first.
Muhammad was charged in federal court Tuesday under weapons and extortion laws that could bring the death penalty. Prosecutors in Maryland and Virginia have also filed state murder charges against both. Authorities in Alabama have charged them with a slaying last month, and the two are suspects in a Washington state killing earlier this year.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said negotiations continue on which jurisdiction will try the first case.
During the investigation, authorities were able to cobble together a task force from dozens of federal agencies and local police forces. The relative unity of the task force crumbled soon after the arrests.
Boston priest reinstated after being cleared of abuse accusations
The Associated Press
BOSTON The top canon lawyer in the Boston Archdiocese was reinstated Wednesday after he was cleared of sex abuse accusations.
Monsignor Michael Smith Foster was twice put on leave after charges of sex abuse, despite serious questions about his accuser's credibility. On Wednesday, Foster was restored to his
post, according to an archdiocese statement.
"Cardinal (Bernard) Law and his associates will work with Monsignor Foster in an effort to restore his good name," the statement said.
Foster, who called the last two months "an ordeal," said he looked forward to celebrating Mass publicly and resuming his duties.
"These months have been difficult for me," Foster said in a statement. But he added that he did not want his ordeal to overshadow the suffering of abuse victims.
"Please remember that they are the ultimate victims of this crisis," Foster said.
In August, Paul Edwards sued Foster, alleging the priest molested him while he was an altar boy at a Newton parish.
Those accusations crumbled after The Boston Globe interviewed
several of Edwards' acquaintances, who said he had a history of making up stories and pointed to factual errors in his accounts.
The lawsuit was dismissed in early September.
Foster, who proclaimed his innocence from the start, was reinstated. On Sept.14, the archdiocese announced Foster was again placed on leave, citing unspecified "new information" from Edwards.
After an internal review, Law determined the complaint was unfounded, the archdiocese said.
Edwards claimed Foster molested him repeatedly in a rectory bedroom between 1980 and 1985. The Rev. John Connolly and three teenagers who worked at the rectory said strict rules would have prevented Edwards from spending significant time in Foster's bedroom without being seen.
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elections commissioner position vacancy
eligibility
must be a regularly enrolled student at the university of kansas, lawrence campus. members of student government organizations are not eligible.
administer, interpret, and enforce all election rules and policies set forth by the student senate elections commission.
salary $8.50/hr., starts Nov.18
STUDENT
SENATE applications available in 133 strong hall
Friday, November 1 • 5pm to 133 strong hall
FREE PARTY
Open to all young children in Lawrence Safe Trick or Treating alternative Many Halloween Activities Trick or Treat in each room of the house
Halloween Party October 31, 6-8 pm
applicationsdue:
ALPHA CHI OMEGA
Festivities at Alpha Chi Omega 1500 Sigma Nu Place
more info call Lindsay 785.842.0300
Halloween party
November 2,2002 10pm to 2am
Regent Room.
Holiday Inn
(200 McDonald Dr.)
$6 non-members
$5 members w/KUID
Tickets on sale at the SUA box office or at the door **Free Transportation** pick up at Oliver, McCollum, Towers, Kansas Union and GSP
Try the Iced Morrocan!
"Exotic spices and smooth chocolate."
Serving Lawrence since 1990 638 Massachusetts 832-CAFE
The Lied Center of Kansas What's Happening Next?
Monday & Tuesday,
November 4&5
7:30 p.m.
Don't miss the hit Broadway musical that captures the spirit of a group of young artists chasing their dreams in a difficult and cruel world.
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