WhiteBoard News for Monday, September 15, 2003

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (AP):

A man who thought he had hatched a perfect alibi to charges that he murdered a man in a barroom shooting two years ago had his scheme foiled when a letter asking a friend to lie for him was returned and was read by jail guards. 

Demetrius Murrell, 24, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of third-degree murder after prosecutors read the letter in court. 

In the letter, Murrell asked his friend for "a little alibi" during his upcoming trial on charges that he shot and killed a 19-year-old man in a Pittsburgh bar on March 24, 2001. 

"Really, I'm home free. Or almost. I need you to come and say you were there and that you know it wasn't me," Murrell wrote in the letter. 

Murrell also sought testimony that the shooter was "a lil' bit taller than me and he was darker." 

But his friend never got the letter. Murrell apparently had an incorrect address and not enough postage, so the letter was returned to the Allegheny County Jail _ where it was read by jail guards. 

In exchange for his plea, Murrell could be sentenced to as much as eight years in prison. 

Robert Mielnicki, Murrell's attorney, seemed resigned about the result. 

"This was a case with many, many issues, and I think sometimes this is the way cases have to be resolved," he said. 
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Comodoro, Argentina (Ananova):

An Argentinian man has been refused treatment for toothache because his medical records say he's been dead for more than 20 years.

Rafael Lanizante, 52, was told by a nurse at the Regional Hospital in Comodoro that he had died in 1980.

He told Clarin newspaper: "I was so shocked, she even showed me my death certificate, I thought it was a joke until I saw the document.

"The only explanation I can come up with is that in 1979 I got my truck stolen along with my ID and driver's license. Maybe the criminal was using my documents and died a year later."

The police are investigating how the mix-up happened.

Mr Lanizante said: "The only good thing is that with all this confusion my toothache went away, because I am not going to get any treatment until this mess is sorted and they realise I am alive."
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Puyallup, Washington (AP):

To say their butts were sore would be an understatement.

Brandi Carbee and Natalie Svenvold of Bellingham set a world record for teeter-tottering on Sunday _ 75 hours after they plopped down for the challenge.

"It's kind of like being drunk," Carbee, 31, said on Saturday, around the time they made it past the 50-hour mark.

"Last night, somehow I thought I was in California," said Svenvold, 24, a Western Washington University student who's expecting to graduate this winter with a degree in physical education.

Carbee, a Western grad who now coaches sprints and hurdles for the university's varsity track and field team, talked Svenvold into the task.

They started teeter-tottering at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Puyallup Fair's Fitness for Family Life Exhibit. They established their record after 24 hours, but kept at it so their record would be hard to beat.

On Saturday afternoon, Svenvold was taking a power nap, lying flat on her end of the teeter-totter, as Carbee answered a slew of questions from curious onlookers.

For the record:

-They got five-minute bathroom breaks every four to five hours.

-They didn't beat a record that already existed. Guinness Book of World Records officials told them they had to teeter-totter for at least 24 hours to make it in the book.

-And yes. It was tiring. Very, very tiring.

Puyallup Fair officials said the weary pair slipped off the teeter-totter at 1 p.m. Sunday, heading straight to bed.
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Angus, Scotland (Ananova):

A woman whose husband left her for her mother was a bridesmaid at their wedding, it has emerged.

Alison Smith discovered her husband, George Greenhowe, 21, in bed with her mother, Pat, 44, just 10 days after their marriage in Angus in November 2001.

The 20-year-old filed for divorce naming her own mother in the papers but then managed to forgive the pair and gave them her blessing to wed.

Miss Smith told Closer magazine: "At first I was disgusted. But I gradually fell out of love with George and realised how happy he and mum were.

"He never apologised for what he did but everyone makes mistakes."

Her ex-husband proposed last year to her mother but the wedding in March at the register office in Arbroath, Angus, was stopped because Scots law rules that a man may not marry his former wife's mother if his ex-wife is still alive.

The devastated couple, who had set up a love nest in a caravan, had to cancel the ceremony and a reception for 50 guests in the Seaforth Hotel, in Arbroath.

They had been planning to go abroad to tie the knot until Closer magazine stepped in and arranged a humanist ceremony, which does not have legal status. Miss Smith finally became bridesmaid for her mother and ex-husband when they exchanged vows at Arbroath's Cliffburn Hotel on September 2.

The 20-year-old said she now had mixed feelings about marriage but remained positive about her unusual experience.

"I think it's a mug's game. I may have lost a husband but I've gained a father," she said.
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Feira de Santana Prison, Brazil (Ananova):

A Brazilian criminal has escaped twice from the same jail in less than 72 hours.

Alisson Jose da Silva, 26, made his first escape within 24 hours of being locked up in Feira de Santana prison, Salvador, for firearms offences.

Da Silva, also known as Popcorn, managed to climb into a hole in the ceiling of his cell and then climbed a 20ft fence to escape.

But he was recaptured hours later when he was spotted having his hair cut in a nearby salon, reports Estado de Sao Paulo.

Two days later, he escaped again by picking the lock in his cell door with a piece of plastic. Two other inmates escaped with him.

A police spokesperson said: "This is such a shame. This man broke free twice under our supervision and has not been found yet."
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Chow
SuperChef
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