Nation roundup for March 12

Police: Man killed
his grandparents

SEATTLE (AP) — Police are searching the Northwest for a man who they say killed his grandparents in the Seattle area and stole their car just hours after being released from a Washington state prison, and has since tried to obtain weapons.

Michael “Chad” Boysen, 26, is considered extremely dangerous, police said. He was released from prison Friday after serving several years for robbery, and his grandparents picked him up. He is suspected of killing the 82-year-old man and 80-year-old woman Friday night or early Saturday at their home in the Fairwood area of Renton, authorities said.

King County Sheriff John Urquhart said Boysen had made threats against family members and law enforcement officials, but he did not elaborate.

“We have to catch him as soon as we can,” Urquhart said.

Urquhart declined to say how the grandparents were killed.

Ex-Detroit mayor convicted, jailed

DETROIT (AP) — Jurors in a city buffeted by financial crisis convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges Monday, capping a five-month trial that exposed a brazen pay-to-play culture during his years in office while the distressed city lost jobs and people and veered toward insolvency.

Kilpatrick could face more than 10 years in prison for two dozen convictions, from racketeering conspiracy to bribery to tax crimes. Once hailed as a hip, young big-city leader, he was portrayed at trial as an unscrupulous politician who took kickbacks, rigged contracts and lived far beyond his means.

“Kwame Kilpatrick didn’t lead the city. He looted the city,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in victory.

At the government’s urging, Kilpatrick, 42, was ordered to jail to await his sentence, along with Bobby Ferguson, a city contractor who benefited from having a pal as mayor and also was convicted.

Police probe crash that killed 6 teens

WARREN, Ohio (AP) — Investigators spent Monday trying to piece together why eight teenagers were crammed into a speeding SUV without the owner’s permission when it flipped over into a pond, killing six of them.

Authorities gave no details on where the group of friends had been and why they were out around daybreak Sunday.

While the father of one of the dead said they were coming home from a sleepover at a friend’s house, the mother of another boy killed said that her son and his best friend had lied about staying over at each other’s homes that evening. She said she thinks they went to a party.

“If only he had listened,” said Lisa Williamson, mother of 14-year-old Brandon Murray. “I told him, ‘Don’t you go nowhere.’ But they’re kids.”

No one in the group had asked to take the vehicle, and its owner was not related to any of the teens.

said State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt. It was registered to someone from Youngstown, about 20 miles away.

“That’s all we know right now,” Holt said.

State police said the SUV hit a guardrail on a two-lane road in an industrial section of town and landed upside down in about 5 feet of water, filling up in a matter of minutes, Holt said. Five boys and a young woman, ages 14 to 19, were killed.

Two boys smashed a rear window, wriggled out of the wreckage and swam away, then ran a quarter-mile to a home to call 911, authorities said. Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, suffered only minor injuries.

Investigators said they believe excessive speed was a key factor in the crash, which took place in a 35 mph zone alongside a steel mill near what’s known in the neighborhood as “Dead Man’s Curve.” Authorities did not say how fast the SUV was going. They were also awaiting the results of drug and alcohol tests.

All eight teenagers were from Warren, a mostly blue-collar city of 41,000 near the Pennsylvania line, about 60 miles east of Cleveland.

Friends and family members described the teens as good kids who weren’t troublemakers. Williamson said many of them would hang out and stay overnight in her basement to play video games, listen to music and watch movies.

She said her son called late Saturday night and said he was staying at the home of his best friend Ramone White. She said it wasn’t until after the accident that she found out that wasn’t true.

“It’s what we did when we were growing up, too,” said Williamson, who was wearing a rubbery “Jesus Loves You” bracelet that she took off her dead son’s wrist.

Andre Bennett Sr., whose son Andrique was among those killed, said Monday that his son and the others had all stayed over at a friend’s house and that a girl offered them a ride home.

Chris Jones, 16, said he used to see most of the victims every day at school and in their neighborhood. He knew all but two in the crash.

“They’re not always the best kids. They’re not out there looking for straight A’s,” he said. “But none of these kids should be where they are today. This should have never had happened.”

Five of the dead were trapped inside the sunken SUV. A sixth was thrown from the vehicle and was found underneath it when it was taken out of the water.

State police identified them as the 19-year-old driver, Alexis Cayson; Andrique Bennett, 14; Brandon Murray, 14; and Kirklan Behner, Ramone White and Daylan Ray, all 15.

“All I know is my baby is gone,” said Derrick Ray, who came to the crash site after viewing his 15-year-old son Daylan’s body at the morgue. He said he knew that his son, a football player who was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but didn’t know their plans.

Some but not all the teens were wearing seat belts, Holt said. The 1998 Honda Passport is designed to seat five and has only five sets of seat belts.

Money, funeral services given for Ky. fire victims

GRAY, Ky. (AP) — Under rainy skies on Monday, fire investigators sifted through the charred remains of a house where seven people died in a weekend fire, while offers of support ranged from free funeral services to donations left in an empty bubble gum container.

The fire Saturday morning killed an engaged couple and five children, including two friends who were spending the night. Authorities hadn’t determined the cause or released the victims’ names Monday.

“It’s heartbreaking losing them kids like that. Those kids were helpless,” said Bobby James Disney, whose nephew was one of the adults killed.

At the nearby J&G Market convenience store, which doubles as a coffee shop and community gathering point, clerk Amy Weddle said: “Everybody’s just so sad.”

Weddle, who circulated a sympathy card among customers for the family of one of the adults killed, said people have called from as far away as California promising to send money to help the victims’ families. An empty bubble-gum container placed on the store counter for donations contained $34 Monday morning.

“We’ve got so many people calling or coming by wanting to give money,” she said.

Family members said the victims included the couple, the woman’s three children and two young friends who were spending the night. The children ranged in age from 10 months to 3 years.

Eric Grisell, owner of Vankirk-Grisell Funeral Home in Corbin, said he is donating services to the family of the children who were visiting.

Investigators were combing through the one-story house Monday for clues to the cause of the blaze that was discovered about 9 a.m. EST. State fire officials said it could be a while before a cause is determined.

Autopsies on the seven bodies were continuing Monday, said State Police Trooper Shane Jacobs, who also declined to discuss what may have caused the blaze. Knox County Coroner Michael Blevins said it will likely be Tuesday before the identities of those killed are released.

Disney picked through the debris that littered the property Monday, including charred photos, books, children’s art, broken glass and pieces of the collapsed roof. He spoke with investigators. He said the house that burned, which is in a rural area populated with brick homes, trailers and small farms, was his childhood home, and he still lives in a neighboring home. The area contains the homes of so many family members that it’s nicknamed “Disneyland.”

“You got to come by the place every day and look at it,” he said. “It’s sad. I grew up in this house. There’s a lot of memories in this house for me.”

Disney said he still cannot believe what happened.

“It’s not set in yet,” he said. “It won’t set in until you go to the funeral home and see the bodies.”

Gray is a few miles outside Corbin, a city of about 7,000 in the foothills of Appalachia near the Daniel Boone National Forest and the borders of Tennessee and Virginia.

Korean War chaplain to get Medal of Honor

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama will award a posthumous Medal of Honor to a Korean War Army chaplain credited with ministering and providing medical assistance to fellow soldiers under heavy fire during combat operations at Unsan, Korea.

The award ceremony for Capt. Emil J. Kapaun is scheduled for April 11. Members of Kapaun’s family will attend.

The White House says Kapaun, a Roman Catholic priest from Kansas, exhibited “extraordinary heroism” while serving with the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during a battle with communist forces in 1950. Kapaun stayed behind to help the wounded even though he knew he would be captured.

Kapaun died at the prisoner of war camp hospital seven months after he was captured by the Chinese in 1950.