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'Railroad killer' put to death for murders

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 28, 2006

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Train-hopping serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz, linked to at least 15 murders near railroad tracks around the country, was executed Tuesday night.

In his final statement, Resendiz asked for forgiveness.

Resendiz, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m. Central time.

The drifter known as the "Railroad Killer" was executed for killing physician Claudia Benton 7½ years ago.

She was killed during a deadly rampage in 1998 and 1999 that earned Resendiz a spot on the FBI's Most Wanted list as authorities searched for a killer who roamed the country by freight train.

TENNESSEE EXECUTION: State officials were preparing Tuesday to carry out the state's second execution in 45 years, that of a man convicted of raping and killing a jogger.

The state had planned two executions for early today, but a federal judge issued a stay late Tuesday for the second condemned man.

Federal Judge Todd Campbell halted the execution and ordered a hearing to determine whether Paul Dennis Reid was competent to drop his appeals of seven death sentences tied to a string of 1997 murders.

Reid and Sedley Alley, convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of a Marine who was out for a jog, had both been on death watch at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Louisiana considers sunken ships as storm barriers

NEW ORLEANS - Scientists and Louisiana officials are floating the idea of sinking some of Uncle Sam's cast-off ships along the water's edge to create a barrier against hurricane flooding.

The barrier would be made up of aging and obsolete tankers, research vessels and cargo ships. Since Katrina hit, Louisiana is looking at every option for shoring up its storm defenses.

"When you're in this desperate state, we can't afford to laugh at anything," said Paul Kemp with Louisiana State University's School of the Coast and the Environment.

Man shot at Las Vegas airport checkpoint

LAS VEGAS - Police shot and wounded a man at the city's international airport Tuesday after he grabbed a child and ran through a security checkpoint, authorities said.

The man had pulled a knife on a boy just outside a screening area, said Elaine Sanchez, spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport.

The child was unharmed and returned to his mother, Sanchez said. The man was taken to a hospital. Police did not release the names of those involved.

Elsewhere...

CADET ACQUITTED OF RAPE: A Coast Guard Academy cadet was acquitted of rape but convicted of several other crimes Tuesday in the first court-martial of a student in the school's 130-year history. After about eight hours of deliberations, a military jury found Webster M. Smith, 23, of Houston guilty of indecent assault, extortion, sodomy, failure to obey an order and absent without leave.

LIMBAUGH CASE: Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh will have to wait several days to find out if he violated his deal with prosecutors in a prescription fraud case when authorities found him in possession of a bottle of Viagra that was prescribed in another name. Limbaugh, 55, was detained at Palm Beach International Airport after officials found Viagra in his bag, but his name wasn't on the prescription. It is not illegal under Florida law for a physician to prescribe in a third party's name if all parties are aware and the doctor documents it correctly, said Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state attorney in Palm Beach County.

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 02:02:59]