Man arrested in N.J. killing eyed in 4 deaths
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man considered a person of interest in the deaths of his ex-wife and three other people in New Mexico was charged Wednesday with a separate killing in New Jersey.
Sean Lannon was arrested in St. Louis on Wednesday morning after a manhunt stretching from New Jersey to Missouri. Wednesday afternoon, authorities in Gloucester County, N.J., charged the 47-year-old with murder, robbery, burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and other offenses in the death of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski.
Dabkowski was killed Monday in his home in East Greenwich, about 20 miles south of Philadelphia. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to the Gloucester County prosecutor’s office. Officers performing a well-being check found Dabkowski’s body, according to the prosecutors office.
Lannon also is a person of interest in the deaths of his ex-wife and three men whose bodies were found last week in a vehicle at the Albuquerque International Sunport garage, police said.
Albuquerque police said three of the people were reported missing since January from Grants, about 80 miles west of the city.
Hugs OK for vaccinated nursing home residents
WASHINGTON — Nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19 can get hugs again from their loved ones, and all residents may enjoy more indoor visits, the government said Wednesday in a step toward pre-pandemic normalcy.
The policy guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services comes as coronavirus cases and deaths among nursing home residents have plummeted in recent weeks at the same time that vaccination accelerated. People living in long-term care facilities have borne a cruel toll from the pandemic. They represent about 1 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 1 in 3 deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Government officials acknowledged that isolation deepened the misery for residents as long-term care facilities remained locked down much of last year. Loneliness contributed to physical as well as mental decline. The ban on visits went into effect almost one year ago; only in the fall were facilities allowed to begin socially distanced outdoor visits and limited indoor ones.
Trial delayed for teen accused of killing 2
MADISON, Wis. — The trial for an 18-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin was pushed back Wednesday by seven months and could be delayed even longer.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial was scheduled to begin March 29, but both sides told a judge that they needed more time to prepare. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder set a Nov. 1 trial start date, with a May 17 status hearing. Rittenhouse faces multiple felony counts, including reckless homicide and reckless endangerment.
According to prosecutors, Rittenhouse, who is white, traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Ill., on Aug. 25 after a local militia posted an online message seeking help protecting businesses from protesters. Kenosha was in the throes of several nights of chaotic protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back during a domestic disturbance. The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, opened fire on protesters Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz with an AR-15-style rifle. Rosenbaum and Huber were killed.
Jury acquits journalist arrested while working
IOWA CITY, Iowa — An Iowa jury on Wednesday acquitted a journalist who was pepper-sprayed and arrested by police while covering a protest, in a case that critics have derided as an attack on press freedoms and an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
After deliberating for less than two hours, the jury found Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri and her ex-boyfriend Spenser Robnett not guilty on misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse and interference with official acts.
The Des Moines verdict is an embarrassing outcome for the office of Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, which pursued the charges despite widespread condemnation from advocates for a free press and human rights.
