Ricin mystery deepens as feds probe incident
LAS VEGAS — A motel patron hospitalized after possible exposure to the toxin ricin is “holding his own” in intensive care, his cousin said Saturday as investigators puzzled over why the strictly controlled poison was in the man’s room.
Thomas Tholen, 53, of Riverton, Utah, told The Associated Press he didn’t want to say more about Roger Von Bergendorff or the discovery Thursday of vials of ricin at his extended-stay motel room.
Police, the FBI and homeland security officials were trying to piece together how several vials of a rare, deadly poison ended up at the motel.
Adding to the mystery, police said late Friday that firearms, an “anarchist-type textbook” and castor beans, from which ricin is made, were found in the room where the poison was discovered.
Rapper “devastated” by triple slaying
ATLANTA — The rap star Juvenile is “shocked and devastated” by the shooting death of his daughter, the girl’s mother and another child, his manager said Saturday.
The 32-year-old rapper is trying to cope with the death of 4-year-old Jelani; her mother, Joy Deleston, 39; and the woman’s daughter Micaiah, 11, whose bodies were found Thursday night in their home, said manager Aubrey Francis.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Anthony Tyrone Terrell Jr. is being held in the DeKalb County jail, charged in the deaths of his mother — a Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy — and siblings at the home near Lawrenceville, outside Atlanta. He was arrested Friday.
Child recovering from chlorine exposure
WAUSAU, Wis. — A kindergartner hospitalized in critical condition after being exposed to a high level of chlorine at a swimming pool was upgraded to fair condition Saturday, a hospital official said.
More than 40 kindergartners had difficulty breathing Friday while they were in a pool learning about water safety, said Mary Ellen Marnholtz, spokeswoman for the Wausau School District in northern Wisconsin. The pool was at a nursing home run by North Central Health Care in Wausau.
2 killed when experimental planes collide
TAMPA, Fla. — An experimental plane that might have been having trouble landing struck another that was taxiing at an airfield Saturday, setting both on fire and killing two people, authorities said.
The collision happened about 8:30 a.m. at Arthur Dunn Airpark in Titusville, said Scott Gaenicke, spokesman and division chief for Titusville Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Both planes were single-engine and amateur-built, officials said.
Historic Plaza Hotel reopens after renovation
NEW YORK — Hundreds of New Yorkers and tourists flocked to The Plaza Hotel on Saturday for the landmark’s reopening after a three-year, $400 million renovation.
“They say this place is the world’s most famous hotel,” said doorman Freddy Davila, who worked for the hotel for 15 years until it closed in 2005. “It’s wonderful to be back,” he said as he welcomed visitors up the red-carpeted steps.
The Plaza, a National Historic Landmark overlooking Central Park, first opened in 1907.
Marilyn Monroe was photographed here, and guests included the Beatles and Frank Lloyd Wright.
