National Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Louisiana Man Confesses To 23 Murders
HOUMA, La. — Short, overweight, and suffering from a heart condition, Ronald Dominique, 42, hardly seemed a threat to anyone, much less a serial killer. Yet Dominique confessed that he bound and strangled or smothered 23 men and teenage boys in south Louisiana in what the FBI considered its most urgent serial killing case. Dominique apparently was able to charm his victims into accompanying him, the director of investigations for the state attorney general’s office, Les Bonano, said. “He’d offer them a ride or talk them into sex, and they’d go with him,” Mr. Bonano said yesterday.
— Associated Press
FEMA Appeals Katrina Housing Order
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is challenging a court order requiring it to make housing payments to thousands of families whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said last week that confusing, often contradictory letters to hurricane victims from the Federal Emergency Management Agency didn’t explain why housing funding was cut. He said that violated the Constitution, and he ordered the agency to restart the program immediately. FEMA said Tuesday it would appeal that ruling.
— Associated Press
Woman Finds Bat In Christmas Tree
NIPOMO, Calif. — Sheila Kearns had a Christmas tree delivered to her home on Sunday. She says she thought she’d been pricked by pine needles when she reached into the tree while decorating it. But the next morning, she found a bat hanging upside down in her home. It turns out that the Christmas tree farm Ms. Kearns bought from keeps bats around for pest control and that one unwittingly hitched a ride to her home. Animal control officials picked up the bat, which tested negative for rabies. Ms. Kearns got a tetanus shot and antibiotics, but says she’s not fazed. She says she’ll keep buying trees from the same farm.
— Associated Press
Boy Booked for Opening Christmas Present
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A fed-up mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for allegedly rummaging through his great-grandmother’s things and playing with his Christmas present early. The mother called police Sunday after learning her son had disobeyed orders and repeatedly taken a Game Boy from its hiding place at his grandmother’s house next door and played it. He was arrested on petty larceny charges, taken to the local police station in handcuffs, and held until his mother picked him up after church.
— Associated Press