MIDWEST

SUSPECT IN THREE WISCONSIN SLAYINGS KILLS HIMSELF ON EVE OF TRIAL

MADISON, Wis. – A college freshman charged with killing three men in their sleep hanged himself from a sprinkler head in his jail cell yesterday, one day before his trial was to begin, authorities said.

Officials were still investigating how Meng-Ju Wu was able to use a bed sheet or pillowcase to hang himself at the county jail.

Wu, 20, came from Taiwan to study Chinese at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was charged in July 2003 with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the shootings of Jason McGuigan, 28, Dustin Wilson, 17, and Daniel Swanson, 25.

Investigators said gambling played a role in the slayings of the three roommates. Wu allegedly told authorities he befriended McGuigan because he wanted to gamble and had McGuigan set up an offshore betting account for him. McGuigan also advised Wu which teams to bet on, and Wu used one tip to win $17,000.

McGuigan allegedly threatened Wu at gunpoint to “keep his mouth shut” about the $17,000 after Wu began celebrating the win in front of others, according to a criminal complaint. One witness told police McGuigan later said Wu was going to get what was coming to him.

The men were found dead of gunshot wounds after a woman looked into a window of a duplex and saw someone lying in a pool of blood.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin today in Wu’s trial.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

ARCHBISHOP GREGORY INSTALLED AS ROMAN CATHOLIC LEADER IN ATLANTA

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – On the same day the nation honored the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the first black leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was installed as archbishop in King’s native city.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, a Chicago native, became Atlanta’s sixth archbishop and its third black archbishop.

Archbishop Gregory, 57, said he chose the King holiday for his installation as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, was on hand for the ceremony.

“We gather in prayer and festive joy on Dr. King’s memorial day and in a city that holds a special place among all American cities that reverence this great man’s legacy,” Archbishop Gregory told the crowd of about 8,000 at the Georgia International Convention Center, located in College Park, a suburb just south of the city. He smiled and nodded in appreciation as the mostly Catholic crowd applauded thunderously. After a 30-minute processional of congratulation, Gregory addressed his flock for the first time. Speaking first in Spanish, he said he was eager to work among a diverse population. “I want you to know that you are always close to the heart of this local church and to the heart of its new archbishop,” he told Latinos.

– Associated Press

HEALTH

STUDY: COLORECTAL SCREENING TEST OF TEN FAILS

PHILADELPHIA – A common screening test failed to detect potentially cancerous colon growths 95% of the time, falsely reassuring patients and doctors, according to a new study.

Researchers found that the digital, in-office test on stool samples was not as reliable as a six-sample test given to patients to do on their own at home – although even that test detected potentially cancerous growths less than 24 percent of the time. “What we found is that it was pretty worthless,” Dr. David Lieberman, one of the study’s authors, said of the in-office test. “It’s a wake-up call that we shouldn’t be relying on this test.”

The study, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was conducted at 13 Veterans Affairs medical centers and involved 2,665 patients – most of them men – who were given the at-home test and the in-office test, followed by a colonoscopy. The digital fecal occult blood test was positive in only 5% of patients with tumors or large, precancerous growths called polyps; the take-home test found 24%.

The reliability of the at-home test, however, improves if patients use it every year, said Dr. Lieberman, gastroenterogy chief at Portland VA Medical Center in Oregon. Because polyps and tumors often bleed intermittently, the chances of detecting them increase as more samples are taken over periods of days and years, he said. Early testing can find growths before they turn cancerous, a process that can take five to seven years, Dr. Lieberman said. The take-home test was positive for 43% of patients who actually had cancer, the study said.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

BUSH WILL NOT RULE OUT ACTION AGAINST IRAN

President Bush said yesterday he would not rule out military action against Iran if the country was not more open about its nuclear weapons program, saying in news reports, “I will never take any option off the table.” Iran denies it has been trying to make nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bush’s administration has imposed penalties against Chinese companies accused of aiding Iran in efforts to improve its ballistic missiles, the New York Times reported on its Web site last night. No public announcement was made. Instead the State Department put a notice on the Federal Register earlier this month. Eight companies were cited.

Some officials speculated the penalties were not publicized in order to keep China involved in negotiations to bring to an end the nuclear standoff with North Korea.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun