A judge ruled yesterday that a Roman Catholic priest who hanged himself in December almost certainly killed two people at a funeral home more than three years ago.

Circuit Judge Eric Lundell's finding came in the case of the Rev. Ryan Erickson, who committed suicide after being questioned by police about the 2002 slayings.

At the hearing, Deacon Russell Lundgren testified that Erickson confided that he shot to death funeral-home director Dan O'Connell, 39, and employee James Ellison, 22.

Although Erickson cannot be charged, the victims' families requested the hearing to determine who was responsible. The so-called John Doe hearing is used in only a few states, typically as an investigative tool.

Gadsden, Ala.

Ousted chief justice to run for governor

Roy Moore, who was ousted as Alabama's chief justice for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse, announced yesterday he is running for governor in 2006.

Moore's candidacy could set up a showdown with Gov. Bob Riley, a fellow Republican, and turn the Ten Commandments dispute into a central campaign issue in the June 6 Republican primary.

Moore, 58, said that if elected, he has no plans to relocate the Ten Commandments monument from its new home at a church in Gadsden. "But I'll tell you what I will do. I will defend the right of every citizen of this state — including judges, coaches, teachers, city, county and state officials — to acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty and government," he said.

Washington

FDA issues warning on Dole salads

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning people not to eat certain Dole pre-packaged salads that have been connected to an outbreak of E. coli infections in Minnesota.

The illnesses have all been associated with Dole salads bought at Rainbow Foods stores in the state. But salads carrying the same production codes have been distributed nationwide, prompting the national warning, the FDA said.

At least 11 people have been sickened; two have been hospitalized.

The affected products are Dole's Classic Romaine and American Blend salads with a "best-if-used-by" date of Sept. 23, 2005, and a production code beginning with B250. Also included is Dole's Greener Selection, with a "use-by" date of Sept. 22 and the same production code.

New York

Human-rights law in N.Y. extended

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed legislation yesterday extending the protections of the city's human-rights laws to domestic partnerships, including both same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples.

The new provision clarifies the city's existing human-rights law, which already forbids discrimination against individuals because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or citizenship.

Also

Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton White House chief who lost back-to-back Senate bids in North Carolina, was selected yesterday to be the next president of the state's 16-campus university system.

Compiled from The Associated Press