In brief: DNA discoverer’s letter sells for $5.3 million

New York – A letter that scientist Francis Crick wrote to his son about his Nobel Prize-winning DNA discovery was sold to anonymous buyer at a New York City auction on Wednesday for a record-breaking $5.3 million.

The price, which far exceeded the $1 million pre-sale estimate, topped $6 million when the commission is included, according to Christie’s. The price was a record for a letter sold at auction, Christie’s said, eclipsing an Abraham Lincoln letter that sold in April 2008 for $3.4 million including commission.

On Thursday, the molecular biologist’s 1962 Nobel Prize medal in physiology or medicine will be offered by Heritage Auctions, which estimates it could fetch more than $500,000.

The items are among a dozen artifacts Crick’s heirs are selling to benefit scientific research.

Pastor’s son killed self with unregistered gun

Los Angeles – The gun Rick Warren’s son used to kill himself was unregistered and purchased on the Internet, the pastor tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Warren’s tweet read:

“Someone on the internet sold Matthew an unregistered gun. I pray he seeks God’s forgiveness. I forgive him.#MATTHEW 6:15”

Sheriff’s Department records show no one in the Warren family is registered to carry a concealed weapon in Orange County, and authorities have said they were struggling to determine where 27-year-old Matthew Warren obtained the weapon.

A source close to the investigation confirmed it was a shotgun.

Warren is the pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest south of Los Angeles and is the bestselling author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Longtime Allen friend, co-writer Rose, 77, dies

Los Angeles – A childhood friend of Woody Allen who co-wrote his movies “Bananas” and “Take the Money and Run” has died. Mickey Rose was 77.

His daughter, Jennifer, told the Los Angeles Times that he died Sunday from cancer at his home in Beverly Hills.

Rose and Allen met in high school in Brooklyn, N.Y., and became friends. They shared a love of playing jazz and baseball. Rose met his late wife, Judy, through a blind date arranged by Allen.

Rose became a TV comedy writer. He wrote for Johnny Carson and Sid Caesar and for shows including “The Smothers Brothers,” “All in the Family” and “The Odd Couple.”

In a statement, Allen said Rose was one of the funniest humans he’s known – and a “wonderful first baseman.”