National Desk

MIDWESTBTK SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISONWICHITA, Kan. – BTK serial killer Dennis Rader was ordered to serve 10 consecutive life terms yesterday during a tear-filled hearing in which relatives of his victims called him a monster and said he should be “thrown in a deep, dark hole and left to rot.” The sentence – a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole – was the longest possible that Judge Gregory Waller could deliver. Kansas had no death penalty at the time the killings were committed.The two-day hearing featured graphic testimony from detectives and sobbing relatives. It culminated with rambling testimony from Rader, who said he had been dishonest to his family and victims and at times wiped his eyes.Rader offered Biblical quotes, thanks to police, and an apology to victims’ relatives before he was sentenced. Some family members walked out of court during Rader’s speech, saying they did not want to give him the time of day.“A dark side is there, but now I think light is beginning to shine,” Rader said. “Hopefully someday God will accept me.”Rader, 60, a former church congregation president and Boy Scout leader, led a double life, calling himself BTK for “bind, torture, and kill.” He was arrested in February and pleaded guilty in June to 10 murders from 1974 to 1991.– Associated PressWESTMILITARY MUST COVER ABORTIONS ONLY WHEN MOTHER’S LIFE IS AT RISKSAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that American armed forces medical benefits should cover abortion costs only when a mother’s life is at risk, a decision that the judges acknowledged was “callous and unfeeling.”The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came in the case of a Navy sailor’s wife whose fetus had a fatal birth defect. She had an abortion five months into her pregnancy, but coverage for the procedure was denied. She filed a lawsuit claiming an armed forces health plan owed her $3,000 for the procedure. The government argued that refusing to cover such services “furthers the government’s interest in protecting human life in general and promoting respect for life.”In yesterday’s 3-0 ruling, judges said they were not judging the “wisdom, fairness or logic” of congressional legislation that limited abortions under military medical plans.– Associated PressSOUTHCORETTA SCOTT KING SUFFERS HEART ATTACK AND STROKEATLANTA – Coretta Scott King suffered a minor heart attack and a major stroke that impaired her ability to speak and affected her right side, but she is “completely aware,” a doctor said yesterday.Ms. King’s daughter said the family expected a full recovery.Dr. Charles Wickliffe, a cardiologist at Piedmont Hospital, where the 78-year-old widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. had been hospitalized for two days, said a blood clot had moved from Ms. King’s heart and lodged in an artery in the left side of her brain. “This same clot caused a small heart attack and a big stroke,” said Dr. Wickliffe.– Associated PressSOUTHWESTPEACE PROTESTER LEAVES CAMP, HER MOTHER ILLCRAWFORD, Texas – The grieving woman who started an anti-war demonstration near President Bush’s ranch nearly two weeks ago left the camp yesterday after learning her mother had had a stroke, but she told supporters the protest would go on.Cindy Sheehan told reporters she had just received the phone call and was leaving immediately to be with her 74-year-old mother at a Los Angeles hospital.“I’ll be back as soon as possible, if it’s possible,” she said. Ms. Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey died in Iraq, said the makeshift campsite off the road leading to Mr. Bush’s ranch would continue.The camp has grown to more than 100 people, including many relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., had vowed to remain at the camp until Mr. Bush met with her or until his month long vacation ended.– Associated Press

National Desk

National Desk

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