Md. suspect's jail death ruled a homicide

Upper Marlboro, Md.

The death of a 19-year-old found slumped in his cell a day after he was jailed on charges of running over and killing a police officer has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Monday.

The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled Monday that Ronnie White's death in Prince George's County Correctional Center the previous day was from asphyxiation and strangulation.

Maryland State Police and the FBI are investigating the death. The FBI is focusing on possible civil-rights violations.

White was charged with first-degree murder in the death Friday of 39-year-old Prince George's County Cpl. Richard Findley during a traffic stop.

Reno, Nev.

Wild horses face possible death

Federal officials are considering euthanizing wild horses to deal with the growing population on the range and in holding facilities, authorities said Monday.

Wild horses have overpopulated public lands and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management can't afford to care for the number of mustangs that have been rounded up, said Henri Bisson, the agency's deputy director. Also, fewer people are adopting the horses, he said.

Monday's announcement marks the first time the agency publicly has discussed the possibility of putting surplus animals to death.

There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range in 10 Western states, Bisson told the organization's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. Another 30,000 horses are in holding facilities, where most are made available for adoption.

Houston

Texas man cleared in fatal shootings

A Texas man who shot and killed two men he suspected of burglarizing his neighbor's home was cleared in the shootings Monday by a grand jury.

Joe Horn, 62, shot the two men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena.

Horn called 911 and told the dispatcher he had a shotgun and was going to kill the men. The dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside, but Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot both in the back.

Chicago

Boeing 777 makes emergency landing

A Japan-bound commercial airliner landed safely at O'Hare International Airport Monday afternoon after one of its engines malfunctioned over the northwest suburbs — but not before it had to dump fuel over Lake Michigan to land.

The right engine on the All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-300ER became inoperable from "metal fatigue," said Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Earlier, it was thought the engine "may have ingested some birds," she said. The exact cause was under investigation and may take weeks to determine.

To make the half-million-pound jetliner light enough to land safely, the pilot swung over the lake and dumped 1,450 gallons of jet fuel, which subsequently sparked monitoring by water-quality managers and beach officials.

Also

New York: The World Trade Center's owner Monday scrapped the schedule for the prolonged rebuilding of the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying nearly every project is delayed and over budget and the latest estimates are unrealistic.

New York: Prosecutors said Monday they would not retry Martin Tanklefff, 36, who spent 17 years in prison after making what he said was a bogus confession to killing his parents in the family's Long Island estate in 1988.

North Carolina: The Army's criminal investigations unit is joining the effort to catch the killer of Army Spc. Megan Touma, a pregnant Fort Bragg soldier who was found dead in a motel room last month, authorities said Monday.

Everglades: A historic deal for Florida to acquire 300 square miles of land for Everglades restoration moved forward Monday when water managers OK'd a negotiation process for the potential $1.75 billion purchase.

Maine: Two hostages held by an armed prisoner inside the Maine State Prison in Warren were released late Monday "with minimal or no injury" and the inmate was back in custody.

Seattle Times news services