NATIONAL BRIEFS
KANSAS: Hearing in Iraq slaying of 5
A key hearing began Monday for a soldier charged in the 2009 shooting deaths of five service members at a mental health clinic at a base on the edge of Baghdad. Sgt. John Russell is accused of carrying out the deadliest act of soldier-on-soldier violence during the war in Iraq. The case brought attention to the issues of combat stress and morale as troops increasingly served multiple combat tours. Russell faces five counts of premeditated murder, two counts of attempted premeditated murder and one count of assault. During the hearing at Fort Leavenworth, a military officer will decide whether Russell should face a military trial. Killed were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., and four soldiers: Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.; Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; and Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.
CALIFORNIA: No DNA link to Cooper yet
DNA analysis has failed to establish a link between the skyjacker dubbed D.B. Cooper and a new suspect in the decades-old case, but the results do not rule out that he may have been the culprit, the FBI said Monday. An Oklahoma woman has come forward to say she believes her late uncle, Lynn Doyle Cooper, was the mystery man who hijacked a Pacific Northwest flight in 1971 and then vanished. The FBI has a necktie the hijacker is believed to have worn, and DNA from a family member of the latest suspect did not match the DNA on the tie, said FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt, a spokesman for the bureau's Seattle office.
TEXAS: Polygamist's tapes heard
Telling five girls to "set aside all your inhibitions," convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was heard Monday during a graphic 10-minute tape played for a jury in San Angelo giving his child brides instructions on how to please him. Jurors could hand down their punishment as early as Tuesday. Jeffs faces life in prison for sexual assault of two of his "brides," ages 12 and 15.
Yankees pushed to brink, game 3 wrap ... Queens County Farm ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Yankees pushed to brink, game 3 wrap ... Queens County Farm ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV