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Power pole endangers drivers after breaking
By Times Staff
Published July 19, 2005
TAMPA - A rotted wooden power pole snapped in half on the north side of the Courtney Campbell Parkway at Bayport Drive at 12:45 p.m. Monday, bringing power lines down into the westbound lanes.
Tampa Fire Rescue crews and Tampa police officers stopped traffic in both directions because motorists were driving over the lines, which carried 69,000 volts of electricity, said Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Bill Wade.
It took Tampa Electric Co. crews about 45 minutes to clear the lines, which fell near the entrance road to the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.
Jurors selection starts in double homicide trial
TAMPA - Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a man accused of killing a Tierra Verde couple in 2003. Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent a full day interviewing roughly 50 potential jurors in preparation for the trial of William J. Deparvine.
The St. Petersburg man was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder after the bodies of Richard and Karla Van Dusen were found lying face-down in a dirt driveway off Old Memorial Highway in northwest Hillsborough County in November 2003. Deparvine is accused of shooting Richard Van Dusen, 58, and shooting and stabbing his wife, Karla, 49.
Deparvine, 53, is also facing armed kidnapping and armed carjacking charges in connection with the killings.
Deparvine contacted Richard Van Dusen after Van Dusen man placed a "for sale" ad for a 1971 Chevrolet truck in the St. Petersburg Times .
DNA evidence taken from an ice cream spoon that a detective saw Deparvine discard at Tyrone Square Mall led to Deparvine's arrest at his apartment. DNA from saliva on the spoon matched blood found on the couple's Jeep Cherokee steering wheel after the murders, according to court records.
Deparvine's arrest sparked an investigation into several unsolved murders in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota and Texas.
Prosecutors could seek the death penalty in the murder case. Jury selection is expected to continue today.
[Last modified July 19, 2005, 01:08:15]
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