Suspect in Ecuador killings arrested
A suspect in the 1999 assassination of a leftist former Ecuadorean presidential candidate was handed over to U.S. immigration officials in upstate New York on Sunday.
Christian Steven Ponce, 36, of Quito, Ecuador, was arrested Saturday afternoon in the hamlet of Palenville on the eastern edge of the Catskills during a routine traffic stop.
Officials say Ponce was wanted in Ecuador in connection with the killing of Jaime Hurtado, a Marxist congressman, and his two assistants, who were shot dead outside Ecuador’s Congress on Feb. 17, 1999.
AUSTIN, Texas
Hundreds celebrate Ivins at service
Molly Ivins was relentless in pursuing justice and defending the powerless, yet never lost her optimism and sense of fun, family and friends said Sunday at a memorial service.
In a laughter-filled service capped by a performance of “Great Balls of Fire” by blues musician Marcia Ball, hundreds of admirers clapped and cheered Ivins’ words and spirit.
Ivins, a best-selling author and syndicated columnist, died Wednesday at age 62 after a long battle with breast cancer.
At the First United Methodist Church on Sunday, numerous friends read from her writings and told stories of their adventures with her. The celebration then moved to Scholz Garden, a famous spot for telling stories and drinking beer near the University of Texas campus.
SOUTH BEND, Ind.
Man admits role in metal killings
A suspect has confessed that he and another man killed four other homeless men in a dispute over scrap metal, and then hid their bodies in manholes, police said.
Daniel J. Sharp, 56, broke down during a police interview on Friday ahead of a lie-detector test and admitted that he was involved in the slayings, said Tim Corbett, commander of the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit.
Sharp and Randy Lee Reeder, 50, were in police custody on Sunday, two days after they were arrested in the December beating deaths of Michael “Shan” Nolen Jr., 40; Michael Lawson, 56; Jason Coates, 29; and Brian G. Talboom, 51.
Sharp and Reeder had been charged with four counts of murder each.