National Roundup

Oklahoma Conspirator asks judge to allow sale of his guns OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols has asked a federal judge to order the sale of his personal gun collection, with some of the proceeds to go toward victims of the 1995 attack. Nichols filed a handwritten court brief Tuesday protesting federal prosecutors' request to destroy Nichols' rifles, shotguns and handguns that were seized from his home after the bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. "Mr. Nichols is trying 'to do what's right,' and to utilize those assets in the best possible way for the greatest benefit, not for him, but for others, including the OKC victims," Nichols wrote, adding that the government wants to destroy the guns "for no other purpose than to keep them out of the hands of the American citizens who could benefit from them through hunting and other sportsman activities." Nichols was convicted of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and of involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents. He was sentenced to 161 consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of civilians. Nichols proposed to sell the guns in a public auction and split the proceeds between his ex-wife and the bombing victims. He described the 13 weapons, which were not used in the attack that killed 168 people, as his "last remaining assets." Prosecutors argue that selling Nichols' guns in a public auction could lead to copycat crimes. They also argue that the weapons could sell at an inflated price, causing Nichols to benefit from his crimes. Nichols "should not be able to obtain more than the fair market value for his property simply because of his status as a domestic terrorist and the notoriety of the crimes he committed," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy L. Padden wrote in a court filing last month. She pointed to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, who sought the return of his property, including some firearms. The victims to whom he owed restitution were allowed to buy the guns and have them destroyed so they could not be used in future crimes. South Carolina @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Death sought for father in killing of 5 kids LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) - Prosecutors announced Thursday that they seeking the death penalty against a South Carolina father accused of strangling four of his children and beating a fifth to death last year at their home. Solicitor Donnie Myers served notice of his decision during a hearing in Lexington on Wednesday for Timothy Ray Jones Jr., according to reports by local news outlets. Jones faces five counts of murder. Authorities say that the 33-year-old father killed his five children at their Lexington County home in late August 2014, and then drove around with their bodies in trash bags in his SUV for nine days before dumping them in a rural Alabama field. Jones was arrested in Mississippi after a deputy said he smelled the stench of death coming from the SUV at a traffic checkpoint. According to indictments, Jones beat one child to death and strangled the other four. Circuit Judge Knox McMahon also ordered that Jones receive a psychiatric evaluation, which was requested by prosecutors. According to an arrest warrant released earlier in the case, he said he feared his children, ages 1 to 8, were going to kill him, chop him up and feed him to dogs. Few details are known about what happened. The court has imposed a gag order on all parties involved with the case to prevent the release of information before a trial. Iowa Man charged with stealing ancient remains IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A retired National Parks Service superintendent has been charged with stealing ancient Native American remains from a federal museum collection. Former Effigy Mounds National Monument superintendent Thomas A. Munson was charged Tuesday with embezzlement. He's expected to be arraigned in federal court in Cedar Rapids next week. The 76-year-old has been the subject of an investigation since 2011, when he returned a box filled with prehistoric bones to the monument in northeast Iowa. The artifacts included fragments of jaws and leg bones between 1,000 and 2,000 years old. He said then that he had kept them in the garage of his Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, home for decades. Munson retired in 1994. The revelation outraged representatives of the tribes who are affiliated with the monument and consider the site sacred. Pennsylvania Football players seeking revenge go to wrong home BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - Police say seven Lehigh University football players have been charged in an off-campus break-in meant as revenge, but they targeted the wrong northeastern Pennsylvania home. Bethlehem police say two men in the house used a university football roster to identify the suspects in the Nov. 8 intrusion. They told police the men kicked in the doors as they slept and one was punched in the face. Six were charged Wednesday with criminal trespass. A seventh player is accused of punching the man. He was charged in November with simple assault. Police say the group was seeking revenge for an alleged attack on a fraternity president. Messages seeking comment from a university spokeswoman and lawyers for three of the players weren't returned Thursday. Online court records didn't list lawyers for the others. Florida Man surrenders after hearing cops near unit EDGEWATER, Fla. (AP) - A man who authorities say was growing marijuana in a central Florida storage unit panicked when he heard a police helicopter hovering nearby and called 911 to surrender. The problem? Edgewater police officers were in the neighborhood Wednesday afternoon to investigate an unrelated suspicious death. It was shortly after 12:30 p.m. when 47-year-old Jasper Harrison told the dispatcher he was "the guy" they were looking for, adding he wanted to come out without being shot. Harrison told the dispatcher he wanted police to contact him. An officer called and got directions to his storage unit. Police found 150 grams of cultivated marijuana and nine plants inside. Harrison faces charges of growing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school and intent to sell. It's not known if he has a lawyer. Published: Fri, Dec 11, 2015