National Roundup

California Ill inmate dies hours before release VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- A convicted killer has died in a California prison hours before he was to be freed to spend his final days with his family. Carl Wade was recommended for compassionate release under a state law for inmates whose death is imminent and who post no danger to the public. He was terminally ill with heart and lung diseases. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a Lake County judge blocked the 66-year-old's release, but an appeals court overruled the judge on May 17. The court ordered Wade's prompt release to live with his family in Chico. The ruling became final last week but Wade died Thursday in the Vacaville prison. He had been serving a 32-years-to-life sentence for fatally shooting a man in Lake County in June 1986. Pennsylvania Man charged with killing wife, young daughters INDIANA, Pa. (AP) -- A western Pennsylvania man has been jailed on charges he killed his two young daughters and his estranged wife at separate residences which were also set on fire. Officials at the Indiana County Jail confirmed that Lewis Beatty, 40, was charged with three counts of criminal homicide, though online court records were not immediately available Monday. State troopers and Indiana County District Attorney Pat Dougherty were planning to release additional details at an afternoon news conference. Coroner Michael Baker said the bodies were found at the scene of separate fires in Indiana County, which Dougherty later identified as a home in South Mahoning Township, where the two girls were found, and the other at a home in East Mahoning Township, where one victim was found. Ron Smail, who identified himself as the father and grandfather of the victims, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the girls found dead in one home were 6-year-old Sara Beatty and 11-year-old Amanda Beatty. They were found dead after Beatty allegedly set fire to his own home in South Mahoning Township about 7 p.m. Friday. Smail said his daughter, Christine Beatty, 33, was the suspect's estranged wife and was found dead at the mobile home she had been renting 10 miles away in East Mahoning. That fire was reported about 8 p.m. Friday. Smail said the coroner told him that all three victims bled to death from slash wounds to their throats. The family's pet pony, goat and dog had also been shot, Smail said. The coroner issued a statement confirming all three victims were members of the same family, but Baker said additional details would be released only at Monday's news conference. The Presbyterian Church of Plumville, where the family attended church, posted the message "We love you Chris Amanda and Sara" on a sign in front of the sanctuary. It was not immediately clear if Lewis Beatty has an attorney. Beatty was jailed without bond following his arrest and preliminary arraignment Saturday. Smail said his daughter and Beatty has separated and shared custody of their daughters. He said Lewis Beatty was attempting to reconcile with Christine, who had turned down his invitation for a dinner date on Friday. Pennsylvania Female guard charged in sex with male inmate INDIANA, Pa. (AP) -- A woman has been fired as a guard at a county jail in western Pennsylvania and charged with having sex with a male inmate. Online court records don't list an attorney for 25-year-old Anna Grafton, of Indiana, who was charged and fired on Friday. State troopers in Indiana, Pa. contend Grafton has sex with the inmate during the overnight hours of May 25 and 26. Grafton is charged with institutional sexual assault even though the inmate acknowledged he consented to the sex. That's because inmates are legally considered not to be able to consent to having sex with their captors. Grafton doesn't have a listed home phone. Two other jail guards and a contractor have been charged in recent months in connection with inmate sex at the jail about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Mississippi Body of kidnapper goes unclaimed MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Mississippi officials are trying to determine what to do with the body of a man who abducted two young Tennessee girls after he killed their mother and oldest sister. Police believe Adam Mayes killed Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne Bain, on April 27 in their home in Whiteville, Tenn. Bain's two younger daughters were found and taken home after Mayes fatally shot himself when police tracked him down May 10 in Union County, Miss. Mark Golding, the medical examiner for Union County, told WMC-TV that Mayes' family won't accept the remains, which are currently located in the state crime lab in Jackson. Mayes' wife and mother remain in jail in Hardeman County, Tenn., on charges related to the kidnapping and slayings. Indiana Trial nears start in $200M investment fraud case INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A former Indianapolis businessman goes to trial this week on charges he ran an elaborate scheme that defrauded investors of more than $200 million. Tim Durham's trial on fraud charges is scheduled to begin Friday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis and is expected to last three to four weeks. Durham and two others are charged with looting Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. and using a Ponzi scheme to defraud about 5,000 mostly elderly investors. Federal prosecutors have accused Durham, his business partner and accountant of raiding the company to finance their lavish lifestyles and unsuccessful businesses. Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson in April rejected a request by Durham's attorney to dismiss the charges. Colorado Activists want stronger sentence for dog torture GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- Animal rights activists are circulating a petition asking a Mesa County judge to reject probation for a man who tortured and killed a dog last year. The activists want the maximum sentence for 18-year-old Joseph Nelson, who pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals in exchange for probation. According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Nelson could be sentenced to more than five years in jail. Nelson was arrested three months after his mother's 20-pound mixed-breed dog was found by a passer-by hanging by its leash from an Orchard Mesa pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River. Published: Tue, Jun 5, 2012