National Roundup

Pennsylvania Contractor wants Iraqi law to de cide Pa. lawsuit PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Attorneys for Houston-based military contractor KBR Inc. want a federal judge in Pittsburgh to apply Iraqi law to a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Pittsburgh-area soldier who was electrocuted in Iraq. U.S. District Judge Nora Berry Fischer says she wants both sides to file written arguments before she decides the issue argued at a pretrial hearing on Tuesday. But Fischer acknowledged the dispute is really about whether KBR might have to pay punitive damages, which aren't available under Iraqi law. The lawsuit contends KBR is responsible because it maintained the barracks where the Army says a water pump shorted out and electrified Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth's shower water in 2008. KBR attorneys have argued that three Army investigations have determined no one agency or company is to blame. New Mexico Man delivers de composing body to emergency room ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) -- Police in the northern New Mexico city of Espanola say a man tried to get help at a hospital emergency room for a woman who had been dead as long as a day and a half. Officers say Jerry Maestas drove to the hospital Tuesday with the 33-year-old woman's decomposing body propped up in the passenger seat. The 64-year-old Maestas asked hospital staff to come outside and help his sick friend. Police spokesman Jeremy Apodaca says the staff could tell by the smell that the woman had been dead for some time. KOB-TV reports that the woman may have been dead for 24 to 36 hours, and Maestas will face charges of failing to report a death. Efforts to reach Maestas at two phone numbers Tuesday night didn't work. New York Woman gets 20 years in campus strangling WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A woman who admitted strangling her "disrespectful" 18-year-old daughter on a college campus was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison. She was also ordered to have no contact with her surviving child. Stacy Pagli, 38, was sentenced in Westchester County Court following her guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter. The plea deal was offered after doctors for both sides agreed Pagli was emotionally disturbed when she killed Marissa Pagli at Manhattanville College in Purchase. She was originally charged with murder. In court on Tuesday, she signed an order of protection for her 4-year-old daughter. Marissa Pagli, a freshman at the school, was killed in February 2010 in the family's on-campus apartment. Her father, John Pagli, a maintenance supervisor at the college, found the body. He sobbed in court on Tuesday and told acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard Molea, "I am forced to live with a broken heart that's beyond repair." Stacy Pagli told police she had killed her daughter because she "pushed my last button" and was "disrespectful all the time." After the killing, Stacy Pagli tried to commit suicide by cutting her left wrist and hanging herself on a doorknob, prosecutors said. While in jail, she tried killing herself by tying socks around her neck, they said. According to police accounts of Pagli's statements after the killing, the mother said her daughter was "disrespectful all the time." She said she told her daughter, "This will be the last time you speak to me like that." When police asked what prompted Marissa to be disrespectful, her mother said, "I asked her where she was going," according to the police accounts. Pagli also expressed regret, telling police, "I wish I could take it back, but I can't. I can't make it better." Nevada FBI in Vegas to u ting Internet ba nk robber gallery LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The FBI in Las Vegas is touting an Internet gallery that posts images of Nevada bank robbery suspects in hopes of drawing tips and solving cases. FBI Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Kevin Favreau says the site is similar to ones in cities including Los Angeles and Baltimore. It's got the faces of suspects and dates, but doesn't provide details about the banks or robberies. It also features a solved cases gallery. Right now, the site lists six unsolved and five solved cases from 2011, and 31 unsolved and 26 solved cases from 2010. The site also has links to Las Vegas and Henderson police, and a link to let people email tips. Wisconsin Priest charged with stealing from charity fund HUDSON, Wis. (AP) -- A western Wisconsin priest has been charged with stealing money from a church fund for the needy. Officials at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hudson told investigators that nearly $11,000 was missing from a charity account used to help people in times of hardship. Prosecutors say Dahlberg admitted taking the money and says he has a gambling addiction. The 68-year-old priest resigned his position last month. A criminal complaint says Dahlberg started writing checks and endorsing them for cash beginning in August 2009. He has been charged in St. Croix (KROY) County with felony theft. The Superior Telegram says he's been placed on administrative leave by the Catholic Diocese of Superior's bishop. An initial court appearance is set for May 12. Mississippi Businessman to appeal biodiesel scam conviction ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) -- A Mississippi businessman convicted of defrauding a federal biofuels subsidy program has filed an appeal with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. William T. "Tommy" Tacker II was convicted in 2010 on 10 counts that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture of nearly $3 million for his company, Biodiesel of Mississippi Inc. of Nettleton. He was sentenced to five years in prison. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports Tacker's attorneys filed the appeal last Friday on grounds of inadequate jury instruction, double hearsay testimony and insufficient evidence to convict him. Also convicted was disbarred Tennessee attorney H. Max Speight (SPAYT), who pleaded guilty and is serving a 26-month sentence. Speight was Tacker's partner in the company. Published: Thu, Apr 7, 2011