First two arraigned in case that includes ’98 Vail fires
Eugene, Ore. – Two of the 11 people indicted on charges they were part of a cell known as “The Family” that set a string of arsons from 1996 to 2001 claimed by the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front were arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court.
U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Suzanne Savoie of Applegate and Kendall Tankersley, formerly known as Sarah Harvey, of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Both women face charges of conspiracy that allege they were part of a group still planning to carry out more attacks.
The women were the first to be arraigned on a 65-count indictment handed up last week.
Six others in custody are scheduled to be arraigned over the next week. Three others remain at large, and authorities believe they are out of the country.
The indictment alleges the group conspired to carry out attacks on the Vail ski resort in 1998, U.S. Forest Service ranger stations in Oregon, government and university research labs in Washington, a horse slaughterhouse in Oregon, a meatpacking plant in Oregon, lumber mills and offices in Oregon, a tree farm in Oregon, a power transmission tower in Oregon, a sport utility vehicle dealer in Eugene and federal wild-horse corrals in Oregon, Wyoming and California. The fires cased more than $100 million in damage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall said the investigation is continuing, and more people are expected to be indicted.
AURORA
Arraignment delayed in nanny-kidnap case
Attorneys for a Saudi Arabian couple charged with kidnapping and assaulting an Indonesian live-in nanny had their arraignment in state district court continued for three weeks Monday.
Attorneys John Richilano and Dan Recht sought to delay state proceedings against the couple until after they are tried on similar charges in federal court, where a three-week trial is scheduled to begin April 24.
However, Arapahoe County District Judge Mark J. Hannen said he is more concerned about the state’s case against the couple and doesn’t want to delay the case until after the federal trial. He ordered the attorneys and prosecutors to work out a schedule and return to court Feb. 16.
Homaidan Al-Turki, 37, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 36, were charged in July with kidnapping and imprisoning a young woman they brought with them from Saudi Arabia to their home in Aurora four years ago.
Al-Turki, who is a graduate student at the University of Colorado, and his wife remain free on bail.
DENVER
Man who killed wife gets 40 years in deal
Marcilino Carbajal, 27, was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison for killing his wife, Dometria Carbajal.
Carbajal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement.
During the sentencing, prosecutor Kerri Lombardi described the crime as violent, brutal and hateful.
Marcilino Carbajal had been stalking his wife as she tried to end their marriage, which had a history of domestic violence. Three days before her body was found in her home by relatives June 6, 2004, she had called police, who arrived to find her husband on her roof.
DENVER
Rental units near Coors Field get OK
The Denver City Council voted unanimously Monday to make way for a project that will convert the Piggly Wiggly warehouse near Coors Field into 226 rental units.
The proposed Broadstone Lofts will preserve and add on to the warehouse. The developer, Alliance Residential LLC, also will construct a new building adjacent to the warehouse at 2101 Market St.
The council approved a zoning change to allow the project.
Katrina Plank of Alliance Residential said the project now goes to the Denver Landmark Commission for approval of the final design.
GILPIN COUNTY
Trains back on track after coal cleanup
Trains were rumbling through the Moffat Tunnel between Winter Park and Rollinsville late Monday afternoon after railroad crews finished cleaning up the tracks where a coal train derailed Saturday.
Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis said the tracks were reopened at 4:05 p.m. and trains began running almost immediately.
Dan Christopher, spokesman for The Ski Train that carriers skiers from Denver to Winter Park, said trains were lined up on both sides of the tunnel waiting for the go-ahead.
Fifteen cars from a coal train jumped the tracks near Rollinsville about 1 p.m. Saturday, stranding about 700 skiers in Winter Park.
Davis said the cause of the derailment is still under investigation.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.
Ex-President Ford improves at hospital
Former President Ford was out of bed, chatting and eating well Monday, but he remained hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia.
The former president, hospitalized 10 days, is continuing to improve, his chief of staff, Penny Circle, said in a statement.
“The doctors are assessing him for discharge on a day-to- day basis,” the statement said. “He’s not quite ready for release from the hospital. … His condition is not life-threatening.”
Ford, 92, was admitted to Eisenhower Medical Center on Jan. 14. He was initially expected to return to his nearby home five days later.
Ford and his wife, Betty, have lived in the desert community of Rancho Mirage since leaving the White House in 1977. They also have a home in Beaver Creek.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
$1.4 million pledged to study park wolves
An anonymous Colorado philanthropist has pledged $1.4 million to help fund research on wolves in Yellowstone National Park, officials with the park foundation said Monday.
The donor has pledged $140,000 over the next 10 years. Of that amount, $100,000 each year will go to the Bozeman, Mont.-based Yellowstone Park Foundation and $40,000 will go to the University of Minnesota’s College of Natural Resources.
Scientists estimate that more than 118 wolves in 12 packs are roaming the park.
