BLOOMING GROVE, PA.
Terror charges added to suspect in trooper’s death
The man accused of opening fire on a State Police barracks admitted killing a trooper because he was dissatisfied with government and wanted to “wake people up,” according to court documents filed Thursday.
Eric Frein spoke of wanting to start a revolution in a letter to his parents and called the slaying of Cpl. Bryon Dickson an “assassination” in a police interview after his Oct. 30 capture, the documents said.
State police charged Frein on Thursday with two counts of terrorism. He already faced first-degree murder and other counts in the Sept. 12 ambush, which killed Dickson, seriously wounded another trooper and sparked a 48-day manhunt.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
SALT LAKE CITY
New accusations against suspected abductor/trucker
A Utah truck driver accused of keeping two women as sex slaves in his semitrailer as he traveled the country had four more victims, federal prosecutors said in court documents.
Some of the new accusations against defendant Timothy Jay Vafeades date back 20 years.
In two of the new incidents, prosecutors say Vafeades, now 54, lured the women to his truck, then forcibly altered their appearances and ground down their teeth while holding them prisoner for months.
No charges have been filed involving the newly disclosed incidents because the statute of limitations has expired, but prosecutors want to introduce the details as evidence in the case filed in March.
In that case, prosecutors said the trucker kidnapped and repeatedly sexually assaulted two women who were 18 and 19.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Some changes sought in military surplus going local
The Defense Department is pursuing changes to a program that provides surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies, a Pentagon official told members of Congress.
The flow of excess tactical gear to local law enforcement came under scrutiny in August following clashes between protesters and heavily-armed police in Ferguson, Missouri.
At a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing, Alan Estevez, a Defense Department undersecretary, said that though the review was ongoing, the Pentagon was committed to improved consultation with Justice and Homeland Security. .
But Estevez defended the program overall.
– From news service reports
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