Man found dead in West Seattle yard is ID'd

The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified Robert Samson as the 53-year-old man found dead in the yard of his West Seattle home on Tuesday. He died from numerous gunshot wounds to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, police were called to a home in the 3500 block of Southwest 100th Street, where Samson's body was discovered. On Wednesday, Seattle police did not release any additional information about a possible motive or say whether they had identified any suspects.

Seattle

Teacher quits after time-card fraud

A longtime Nova Alternative School teacher resigned last month after the principal discovered she had fraudulently collected nearly $120,000 in overtime pay over the past five years.

Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Wippel said the district believes the woman changed the time slips after her principal approved them. When the district notified her that it intended to fire her, she resigned Nov. 29.

A routine budget review by the school's new principal this fall turned up time slips on which the teacher claimed more hours than she could possibly have worked, according to a Seattle Police Department incident report.

The woman, who has worked for the district for 32 years, offered to repay the district. She has not been charged.

Wippel said in a statement that, in the future, the district will review overtime requests for more than 25 hours a month.

Seattle

DOT settles in I-5 barrier case

The State Department of Transportation will pay $2 million to settle a claim with a family whose 18-year-old daughter was killed when a vehicle broke through an I-5 cable barrier near Marysville and hit their Suburban head-on.

The settlement in the case resulting from the December 2004 accident is the first of its kind, said Mike Nelson, attorney for John Holschen, the father of Marijke Holschen, who was killed in the accident.

Ten miles of cable barrier near Marysville were cited in a Department of Transportation study as a factor in some cross-median accidents. Cars would go under the barriers instead of being stopped by them, resulting in head-on collisions at freeway speeds.

There were 18 cross-median collisions in that 10-mile stretch of I-5 between 1999 and 2005, according to the Department of Transportation. Three involved fatalities.

The $2 million will be added to $7 million from the insurance company of the motorist who crossed the median, Nelson said. Most of the money will go into trust funds, he said.

Seattle

Deadline extended in penalty decision

A judge Wednesday extended by one week the deadline by which King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng must decide whether to seek the death penalty for Naveed Haq, who is accused of killing one woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

Maleng now has until Dec. 22 to make the decision.

Haq is accused of forcing his way into the downtown Seattle offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28 and opening fire. Pamela Waechter was killed, and five other women were injured. He spouted anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements during the shootings, according to charging papers.

Olympia

Old Capitol graffiti safely removed

Graffiti have been removed from the 114-year-old sandstone Old Capitol without scarring the structure.

The Department of General Administration decided to use a special stripping chemical to remove the 32 marks left about three weeks ago, instead of a high-pressure sand and water mix that could have ground away some of the stone.

Larry Kessel of the administration department said the incident was the worst vandalism of a state historic property in his memory.

Times staff and news services