Des Moines murder suspect faces trial
SEATTLE – A man accused of killing four people eight years ago in Des Moines, Wash., is finally headed for trial.
King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson ruled Wednesday that Leemah Carneh is mentally competent.
Questions about his mental state have delayed the trial, and the 27-year-old underwent treatment at Western State Hospital. Defense lawyers say Carneh had extensive delusions about a religion he created called “Biblica Anglica.”
Prosecutors say he was obsessed with a high school cheerleader in 2001 and stabbed the 17-year-old, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s parents.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that a plea of not guilty was entered for Carneh at Wednesday’s arraignment on four aggravated murder charges.
Veterans cemetery grant received
The Washington state Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday it has received an $8.8 million grant to build the first state veterans cemetery in Spokane County.
The cemetery will be built near Medical Lake.
Department Director John Lee said in a statement that the goal is to complete construction in time to dedicate the cemetery on Memorial Day in 2010.
There are no other state veterans cemeteries in Washington. The state is home to one national cemetery, the Tahoma National Veterans Cemetery in Kent.
Reward offered for tips in shooting
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information that helps arrest two men wanted in connection with a shooting last Friday.
Police say Timothy “Stoney Boy” Lucious, 38, and Michael “Mikey Mike” R. Gardner, 23, were involved in an early-morning altercation near South Perry Street and East Seventh Avenue that began with a fight at a north Spokane bar.
Lucious is wanted on two counts of attempted murder, accused of shooting one woman in the chest and another in the arm.
Gardner is wanted on a charge of second-degree assault after police say he punched a woman in the jaw, knocking her unconscious.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or submit the tip online at www.crimestoppersinland northwest.org. Tipsters do not have to give their name but should provide a code name or number.
Actress to auction off belongings
IDAHO FALLS – Actress Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann Summers on the 1960s television show “Gilligan’s Island,” plans to cast away the contents of her eastern Idaho home at an auction Saturday.
The 71-year-old native Idahoan has kept a home in the Driggs area for about 15 years and now lives near Palm Springs, Calif.
Wells plans to sign autographs for anyone who buys something.
Items up for bid include a 1970 Ford F150 pickup, an antique Chinese rug, a picture-frame cutter made in Denmark and boxes of lace made by Wells’ grandmother.
“It’s a unique auction with a lot of personal, exotic items for sale,” Angelina Guzman, a representative of Prime Time Auctions in Pocatello, told the Post Register.
The auction will not include a lot of memorabilia from the television show that made Wells famous. But it will offer theater seats and props from the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, which was renamed the Geffen Playhouse in the 1990s, and memorabilia from the annual Spud Fest Family Film and Television Festival.
Wells served as chief executive officer of the Idaho Film and Television Institute, which hosted the annual family film festival in Driggs until it closed in April.
As an Idaho resident, Wells urged lawmakers to approve rebates on production costs for filmmakers who shoot movies, shows or commercials in the state.
Highway reopens after mudslide
WENATCHEE – The Washington Transportation Department says crews have reopened the North Cascades Highway near Rainy Pass after a series of recent thunderstorms triggered a mudslide that had covered the lanes.
Spokesman Jeff Switzer said the highway reopened about 4 p.m. Thursday.
The slide Wednesday afternoon was reported to the Washington State Patrol by a motorcyclist who rode into it but was unharmed.
Crews had to remove about 300 yards of mud and debris as deep as 10 feet.
The highway was closed from just east of Diablo to 14 miles west of Mazama.