MIDWEST

POLICE: PREGNANT WOMAN’S ATTACKER ‘OBSESSED WITH MOTHERHOOD’

FORT MITCHELL, Ky. – A woman stabbed to death while possibly trying to steal a pregnant woman’s fetus had been carrying an ultrasound picture of someone else’s twins and was wearing maternity clothing filled with padding. Police said 26-year-old Sarah Brady, who was nine months pregnant, acted in self-defense Thursday when she killed Katherine Smith. No charges had been filed yesterday and Commonwealth Attorney William Crockett said he hadn’t decided whether to present the case to a grand jury. The attack happened after Smith, 22, called Ms. Brady and asked her to come over and pick up a package supposedly delivered to her by mistake. “She was mentally disturbed,” Fort Mitchell police Sergeant Thomas Loos said of Smith. “There is no question about it.” Ms. Brady told police she was attacked when she went into Smith’s first-floor apartment to look at the woman’s nursery. Police released details of Ms. Brady’s statement Saturday. “Katie reached into her pocket, pulled out this knife that was already open, put it in the overhand thrust position and attacked her with it,” Sergeant Loos said. He said it appears that Ms. Brady struck Smith on the head with an ashtray and then grabbed the knife, stabbing Smith three times, including once in the upper chest. Sergeant Loos said that when Ms. Brady ran out of the apartment and flagged down a passing motorist for help, Smith removed her maternity underwear stuffed with padding and called 911. Dispatchers kept her on the line until she lost consciousness. Smith bled to death. Police described Ms. Brady’s wounds as cuts to her hands.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

AIRPORT SCREENER MISSES BUTCHER KNIFE

NEWARK, N.J. – A security screener at Newark Liberty International Airport failed to spot a butcher knife in a passenger’s pocketbook and was removed from the post for retraining, officials said. Katrina Bell, 27, had cleared security and was waiting with her sister to board a flight on Saturday morning when she discovered she was carrying a knife. Ms. Bell had put the knife in her bag “just in case” before going on a blind date earlier that week, her sister and travel companion, Tikisha Bell Gowens, 30, said in The Sunday Star-Ledger of Newark. “She said to me, ‘Oh my God, I have this butcher knife in my pocketbook,'” Ms. Bell Gowens said. “My first thought was, ‘They’re going to think we’re terrorists.'” The North Carolina women immediately told airport personnel, who summoned police and officials of the Transportation Security Administration, which employs the screeners. The women were not charged. The screener was removed from the checkpoint and will undergo remedial training, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said.

– Associated Press

NORTHWEST

GOLD-MEDAL SKIER BILL JOHNSON ARRESTED

PORTLAND, Ore. – Olympic ski champion Bill Johnson was charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after punching a sheriff’s deputy in the face during a traffic stop, police said. Mr. Johnson was stopped in his pickup truck Friday by a Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy and a suburban Troutdale police officer. When the officers approached, Mr. Johnson pulled out his 1984 gold medal and taunted them by saying, “You don’t have one of these,” police said.

Authorities said Mr. Johnson threw his keys at Deputy Jeff Cordes, reached out his window, grabbed the deputy’s shirt and punched him in the face. Mr. Johnson then refused to obey orders to exit the vehicle and lie on the ground.

Mr. Johnson was charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and driving while intoxicated. He remained jailed Saturday night, and was being held until arraignment today. Bail was set at $17,500.

The 1984 Olympic downhill champion, Johnson attempted a comeback to compete in the Salt Lake City Games. But he suffered a traumatic brain injury during a training run in March 2001 and was in a coma for three weeks.

– Associated Press