A man who said his friend died of a heroin overdose about a week ago tossed the decomposing body out a fourth-floor window of his Bronx apartment on Monday, police said.
Henry Washington, 59, was charged with unlawful disposal of a body and creating a public nuisance.
Washington told police that his friend, Richard Lee Jones, 42, died while they were using heroin. He said he did not know what to do with the body, so he left it there until he decided to get rid of it. It was unclear whether Washington stayed in the apartment with the corpse all week, police said.
Adviser suspects murder
NEW YORK – A former financial adviser to the late Doris Duke says the tobacco heiress may have been killed and has asked a Manhattan court to let him file objections to her $1.2 billion will.
Because Irwin E. Bloom is not a party to the will, Bloom had to ask Manhattan Surrogate Judge Eve Preminger’s permission to participate in the fact-finding process before the will is settled in court.
Duke died on Oct. 28 at age 80. Bloom said her body “was cremated with unusual haste” and that Duke had been afraid she was being poisoned.
Prisoners riot over water
SPARTA, Ga. – Prisoners upset over a water shortage rioted for about four hours at a medium-security prison, injuring seven guards and causing widespread damage before authorities regained control early Monday.
Officials estimated damage at $1.5 million to $3 million at the Hancock Correctional Institution, built 21/2 years ago as a model prison.
Fewer than 100 of the 750 prisoners held at Hancock took part in the riot, Warden James Vaughn said. He said the water was back on Monday and the prison was quiet.
Plane crashes; pilot flees
BLOWING ROCK, N.C.- A small plane loaded with about 40 bales of marijuana crashed and burned in the mountains as authorities chased the pilot at low altitudes. Authorities found no trace of the pilot, and most of the marijuana was destroyed in the crash on Sunday.
Two Customs planes and another plane followed the twin-engine aircraft from Florida up the Atlantic Coast to Wilmington, where it turned west and crossed North Carolina to the mountains.
Authorities think the plane had traveled from Jamaica.
Truck driver charged
JACKSON, Miss. – Police dragged a truck driver out of a motel room and charged him with being a sniper who shot at cars on Interstate 20.
Frank Sivori, 35, was in jail on Monday on $500,000 bail, charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer. Police said he fired out his motel room window on Sunday and hit at least four vehicles, including a squad car.
No injuries were reported in the shootings, which shut I-20 and the parallel U.S. 80 for more than an hour.
Judge denies request
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A federal judge denied the Whitewater special prosecutor’s request on Monday to limit the trial testimony of a lending company official who is cooperating with investigators.
Special Prosecutor Robert Fiske Jr. said that testimony by David Hale, who has pleaded guilty to two felonies related to his Little Rock lending company, could jeopardize the Whitewater investigation.
Judge hears rights case
CINCINNATI – A ban on anti-discrimination laws for gays denies them full political participation, one lawyer said. But another attorney, defending the ban, said homosexuals merited no special protection.
U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel heard opening arguments on Monday in a lawsuit challenging a ban passed by voters in November. Spiegel had temporarily blocked the measure from taking effect, saying it appeared to infringe on the rights of gays to petition city government.
Chaplain slain in attack
CARSON, Calif. – A man being driven home from a bar fight grabbed a deputy’s gun and wounded the officer, then killed a chaplain who was along for the ride, police said.
Derek Pettis, 25, was arrested for investigation of murder and held without bail. Deputy Terrence Wenger was in critical condition on Monday after surgery on his right eye.
Bruce Bryan, 40, was killed in the Saturday attack. Police said he rode with officers to help defuse domestic disputes, console crime victims and counsel deputies and suspects.
