TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2006
NEWS
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Members of a U.S. Coast Guard boarding crew help unload confiscated fish from the Delfin IV, Monday., in Port Isabel, Texas. The Delfin IV was boarded Sunday, about 40 miles offshore from Padre Island national Seashore. The bust was an effort by Texas Parks and Wildlife, U. S. Coast Guard and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The boat carried about 9,400 pounds of fish that included red snapper, grouper and tilefish. The season for red snapper did not open until Monday, so the red snapper was an illegal catch. The other fish were used to conceal the red snapper and the whole catch was considered illegal.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ancer Institute
Red fish, no fish
Joe Hermosa/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Murder
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On the first appeal, the court found the crime met the requirements for "qualified homicide" because of the suffering caused to Shannon, said Jesse Ybarra, a Topeka court translator and one of the investigators who assisted Stauffer in Costa Rica. Martin was stabbed 15 times in 8 minutes.
That appeal doubled their sentences to 30 years.
"By every one of their appeals, they've screwed themseives," Stauffer said.
But the first appeal was annulled because of a procedural error. On April 21, the Costa Rican court again affirmed at the latest appeal that the pair was guilty of qualified homicide. Castro received the maximum 35
Martin had traveled to Golfito for a brief trip, gathering additional samples of a fern she was researching. She had previously lived in the coastal town during a study abroad trip. Walking home from a bar near her host family's house, she was attacked and killed. No clear motive or reason has been identified.
years while Cruz will serve 30 years.
The investigators and the future
Ybarra and KBI agent Larry Thomas traveled to Golito with Stauffer multiple times. They found witnesses and crucial evidence that helped convict Cruz and Castro. StauFFER said.
Thomas was special agent in charge of the cold case squad when he joined the Martin investigation.
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Thomas said he would continue to go to Costa Rica for more appeals.
Her favorite gag was duct taping one to the end of Sheri's hairdryer.
Sister
May 13 will be the five-year anniversary of the murder of Shannon,
"She didn't notice, she turned it on and no air came out. She screamed when she saw the can," Staci said.
a 23-year-old KU student killed during a short research trip to Golifo, Costa Rica.
Now Staci will graduate this semester with a masters degree in journalism from the University. She also works as the Dole Multimedia Newsroom Coordinator. Her family and boyfriend, Bryan, offered to
She would have graduated later that month.
He also said that if the opportunity arose, he would interview the convicted to learn more about what happened the night of the murder.
Last year, after the conviction of Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer, Thomas was promoted to assistant director for special operations.
"The case is not over for us when the sentence is handed down," he said.
Ybarra said his experience in Golfito made him want to help others find justice. He intends on applying for a private investigators license, but wants to see Martin's case finished before he takes on more.
"I was quick to see in Jesse that he has the passion that it takes for cases like this." Thomas said,
Stauffer uses her experience to
Victims' rights
help other victims now. Last year, she was appointed by Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline to be the Statewide Victims' Rights Coordinator. The victim's rights office helps victims and their families understand the judicial process and find assistance.
throw her a graduation party, but she refused, she said.
"I wouldn't say why" she said.
"Finally, I told Bryan the last time I planned a graduation party my sister didn't come home."
The grass in front of Shannon's grave is mashed flat from where Stauffer and Staci have knelt to plant flowers.
She said her personal experience taught her the importance of showing compassion to victims.
"Many times a victim will get so discouraged and feel everything's hopeless," she said. "At that point, I may decide to share my experience with them. How it took a long time, but finally justice prevailed."
"And yet, the battle's still not over," she said, "because of the rights of the convicted to appeal after appeal."
Shannon's grave is next her grandparents', Staci said that when she visited the grave with Sheri, they sat on the edge of their grandparents' headstone together. Now Sheri is in Beijing, China, studying Chinese.
Edited by John Jordan
"I'm definitely going to have to figure out a way to get a can to China," she said. "If Shannon were here, she'd be plotting it with me."
- Edited by Gabriella Souza
BUSINESS
More lies revealed in Enron case
BY KRISTEN HAYS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The ex-chairman was combative during his fifth day on the witness stand in his fraud and conspiracy trial, accusing a federal prosecutor of highlight ing only negative information.
HOUSTON — Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay received a barrage of written warnings from employees questioning the energy giant's accounting integrity in the fall of 2001 but said Monday that he was too busy trying to save the company to investigate.
Prosecutor John Hueston, in his third day of cross-examination, sought to show that Lay ignored warnings of accounting impropriety and financial doom after resuming as chief executive upon the resignation of co-defendant Jeffrey Skilling from that role in mid-August 2001. Enron, once the seventh-largest company in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy protection in December.
Yet in November 2001, with Enron's stock and reputation already in the tank, Lay told employees he could "not have ever contemplated" what lay ahead for the company and its stockholders.
As he did last week, Lay bristled and bickered, claiming he had received positive information along with negative.
One warning came in October 2001 via an e-mail from Jim Schwieger, a longtime trader, three days after Lay announced a massive third-quarter loss and a $1.2 billion writedown in shareholder equity.
Cell phones
Several commission members were concerned about enforceability and will discuss it after the language is reworked in July.
"I don't feel like we have the resources to monitor an outright ban in the city," John Ziegelmeyer Ir. chair of the Traffic Safety Commission, said.
Ziegelmeyer said that his main concern was that a cell phone ban should be a state issue rather than a city issue. If the commission approves any version of the ordinance, it will then go to the City Commission for approval. The issue of cell phone bans was first raised at a Traffic Safety Commission meeting in October when a member of the community requested a ban on cell phone usage while driving.
— Edited by Vanessa Pearson
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
May 2, 2006
KU Hillel presents... ISRAEL BLITZ
A Week Celebrating YomHa'atzmaut
Israel's Independence Day going on all this week!!! check out the website for a complete schedule of events
www.kuhillel.org
DR. NICHOLAS RIEGG
- Has traveled to 52 countries and lived in China, Taiwan, London and Sri Lanka.
TUESDAY MAY 2 @ 7:30 PM
RELAYS ROOM AT THE BURGE UNION
PAID FOR BY KU
- Policy responsibilities included foreign aid, the World Bank. IMF. West African economic development. UN budgets
- Professor of strategy and diplomacy at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth
- Economist for the State Department for 30 years
GLOBAL ECONOMICS & SECURITY
Are You Ready for a Challenge?
$10 entry fee goes towards helping KU Habitat for Humanity build a home!
Habitat for Humanity Disc Golf Tournament Sunday May 7th @9:30am Meet at the gazebo at Centennial Park 9th and Rockledge Two rounds of Disc Golf Great Prizes for all skill levels Free lunch between rounds
The Center for Community Outreach Challenging. Educating. Empowering.