National Roundup

New York
Inmate planned to escape prison  buried in sawdust
AUBURN, N.Y. (AP) — A man who killed his parents two decades ago says he hatched a plan to escape a maximum-security prison in New York by burying himself alive in a coffin-like box, hidden under tons of sawdust.

Gordon “Woody” Mower told The Post-Standard of Syracuse  that he practiced the escape repeatedly at Auburn Correctional Facility two years ago.

The plan involved hiding in a bottomless wooden box in a big mound of sawdust from the prison’s woodshop that is hauled away periodically by a local farmer.

Mower says the plot failed in 2015 when another inmate tipped off guards.

The newspaper reports the planned escape is confirmed by prison records sent to Mower’s lawyers.

Massachusetts
Woman in suicide case waives her right to jury trial
TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts woman charged with manslaughter for sending her boyfriend text messages encouraging him to kill himself has waived her right to a jury trial.

Michelle Carter’s decision Monday as a judge was explaining her rights means the judge will hear the testimony and issue the verdict.

The 20-year-old Carter is charged in the 2014 death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III. Roy was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his pickup truck in Fairhaven.

Prosecutors released transcripts of text messages the then-17-year-old Carter sent to Roy. In one, she allegedly wrote: “The time is right and you’re ready, you just need to do it!”

Carter’s lawyer has argued that the texts are protected free speech. He’s also said Roy was depressed and previously tried to take his own life.

Pennsylvania
Ex-doc gets up to 95 years for drugging 3 women, abusing 2
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania doctor who has since lost his medical license will spend 30 to 95 years in prison for drugging two women and a teenage girl at his home, then sexually abusing two of them.

Former Chambersburg doctor Sohael Raschid told a Franklin County judge on Friday that he gave the wrong dose of drugs to one victim, nothing more.

But a jury last month found the 60-year-old defendant guilty of drugging three of four accusers, and sexually assaulting two of the three. The accusers included a 13-year-old and a 19-year-old.

Prosecutors say the encounters happened at Raschid’s home in Hamilton Township in 2014.

Judge Jeremiah Zook told Raschid: “You’re not a rapist who happens to be a doctor. You were able to rape because you are a doctor.”

Pennsylvania
Officer fired over charges he shoplifted about $10 of meat
BRADFORD, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer has been fired over charges that he shoplifted about $10 worth of meat from a local Wal-Mart.

Citations filed against 45-year-old Shayne Miller allege the Bradford patrolman stole packages of meat worth between $4.50 and $5 on April 21 and April 26. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Miller who has been mailed the citations, but not yet scheduled a hearing on either.

Police Chief Chris Lucco told The Bradford Era on Sunday that Miller is no longer employed after an internal investigation.

Mayor Tom Riel says Miller was fired effective May 26.

The mayor and chief issued a joint statement on the firing saying they normally don’t comment on personnel matters but did in this instance to maintain a “level of transparency.”


New York
Autopsy of brother of man who killed boy inconclusive
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s medical examiner is still trying to determine the cause of death of the brother of a man now imprisoned for kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old Brooklyn boy nearly six years ago.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office released a statement Sunday saying the cause and manner of Tzvi Aron’s death are pending further studies.

Police on Friday discovered the body of Aron, bound, wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a basement closet, a law enforcement official said.

The 29-year-old bakery worker was last seen on Tuesday. The official said Aron had recently been threatened but it wasn’t clear why. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Tzvi’s brother, Levi Aron, pleaded guilty in 2011 in the kidnapping and killing of Leiby Kletzky. He is currently serving 40 years to life in prison. Detectives found the boy’s severed feet, wrapped in plastic, in a freezer at Aron’s home. A cutting board and three bloody carving knives were found in the refrigerator. The rest of the boy’s body was discovered in bags inside a suitcase in a trash bin about a mile from the home.

In the years since, the family remained at the home, which is divided into apartments. Tzvi lived in the basement apartment; Levi had lived on the top floor. Another brother also lives there.

The family has received dozens of death threats since the boy’s killing. On Friday, police once again cordoned off the home as a crime scene.


New Jersey
Convenience store to change name after suit
PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey convenience store called Dawa has agreed to change its name after a lawsuit from Wawa, according to recently filed court documents.

The stores agreed that the Paterson-based store would change its name, though the filing doesn’t specify what it will be called, according to a proposed order filed in U.S. District Court.

Pennsylvania-based Wawa has more than 700 convenience stores in six states and filed a trademark infringement lawsuit earlier this year against Dawa, saying it’s taking advantage of Wawa’s hard-earned reputation.

“Dawa” is a casual way to say “come in” in Korean and is interpreted to mean “welcome.”

Dawa owner Mike Han said in February that he used the name because everyone is welcome there.

But Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce said at the time that the company has an obligation to protect the brand name and ensure consumers aren’t confused. She said the company reached out to the store multiple times to try to resolve the matter privately.

“We wish them nothing but success,” she said. “Just without our name included.”

Wawa’s name is derived from the Lenape tribe’s word for Canada goose.