In the news
By TIMES WIRES
Published September 16, 2006
TV bounty hunters busted
TV reality star Duane "Dog" Chapman and two co-stars on his show Dog the Bounty Hunter were arrested Thursday in Hawaii on charges of illegal detention and conspiracy in the bounty hunters' capture three years ago of a cosmetics company heir.
Chapman, son Leland Chapman and associate Timothy Chapman did not resist arrest, said Mark Hanohano, U.S. marshal for the district of Hawaii.
The charges stem from Duane Chapman's capture of Max Factor heir Andrew Luster on June 18, 2003, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, said Marshals spokeswoman Nikki Credic in Washington.
Chapman's capture of Luster, who had fled the country while on trial on charges he raped three women, catapulted the bounty hunter to fame and led to the reality series on A&E.
Chapman said Thursday the government was jealous of his success in hunting down criminals.
The three were being held in Honolulu. Bail had not been set. They will face an extradition hearing to Mexico under terms of treaties between the United States and Mexico, Credic said.
Irwin service tickets go fast
Around 3,000 grieving fans, hundreds of whom camped on the street overnight, were rewarded Friday with tickets to the public memorial service for "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin. The free tickets were distributed at three locations across Irwin's Australian home state, Queensland, and were snapped up within about 15 minutes. The service is Wednesday morning at Australia Zoo in Beerwah, about 50 miles north of Brisbane.
The Animal Planet TV network will broadcast the service in the United States on a two-hour delay, at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Queensland is 14 hours ahead of the eastern United States.
Second autopsy for Smith
Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer has been authorized to bring in a private pathologist to perform a second autopsy on her son, the head coroner in the Bahamas said Friday.
The reality TV star and former Playboy playmate found her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, unresponsive Sept. 10 in her hospital room in Nassau.
The Bahamas coroner's office has termed the death "suspicious." The family's pathologist was scheduled to arrive from the United States today and perform the autopsy Sunday, head coroner Linda Virgill said. The family's request is not unusual, she said.
The results of the official autopsy have not been released.
'Survivor' shakeup doesn't boost ratings
Despite boatloads of hype about the division of its teams by race, Survivor: Cook Islands didn't attract many new viewers to its premiere Thursday.
In Survivor terms it delivered only a so-so performance, but that still meant that 18-million people tuned in, and the show scored a very solid 6.5 rating among adults 18-49.
For most other shows, those would be great ratings, but that's the smallest premiere audience for the show since its first incarnation in the summer of 2000, when no one knew what it was.
Survivor will face increased competition starting next week. NBC's comedies My Name Is Earl and The Office debut Thursday, and ABC's buzzed-about new show Ugly Betty premieres the following week.