March Is Morbid

Reality TV star Jade Goody dies of cancer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago on March 22nd, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Reality TV star Jade Goody, who turned terminal cancer into red-hot media property to secure her children's future, died Sunday aged 27 with Prime Minister Gordon Brown leading tributes.
Rags-to-riches Goody died in her sleep at her home in Upshire, southeast England, at 3:14 am on Mother's Day, with new husband Jack Tweed and her mother Jackiey Budden by her side.
"My beautiful daughter is at peace," Budden said. Goody's publicist Max Clifford added: "She was a very, very brave girl. And she faced her death in the way she faced her whole life -- full on, with a lot of courage."
Admirable courage in the face of death - surely it will translate into the same bravoure now that she dwells with the Higher Truths of the Cosmos... of Creation!
RIP, Jade

Natasha Richardson dies after fall on ski slope
Wed Mar 18, 8:32 PM
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film "Patty Hearst" and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of "Cabaret," died Wednesday at age 45 after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident in Quebec.
Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death Wednesday night in a written statement.
"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."
The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury when she fell on a beginner's trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She was hospitalized Tuesday in Montreal and later flown to a hospital in New York City.
Natasha Richardson was briefly hospitalized at a familiar place, right after her collapse; Sacred-Heart Hospital, better known as l'hôpital Sacré-Coeur to locals from the area... She was already beyond help (and is, in fact, just the latest in a long, long list of deaths who have crossed over at that particular hospital - no libeling here, just facts.) but Liam Neeson left Toronto in a hurry, where he was shooting a film with Julianne Moore, to be at her bedside -her deathbed- in Montreal. Morbid Montreal. (If local songstress Diane Tell can call Manhattan "monotone" (monotonous - of course) so can I call Montreal morbid - okay? I speak en toute connaissance de cause...
Natasha Richardson basically died in the same circumstances as my Dad did, three years ago very nearly to the day, in the same hospital.
Dad had been admitted there on March 19th - it had been my decision. He'd shown signs that told me something was amiss. I took no chances. After reaching the hospital, he felt perfectly fine too; just as Natasha felt perfectly fine -minus a headache- after the ski slope bump she took. It took a mere few hours for things to turn tragic for her; it took days for Dad - that is the only difference.
Skiing, on Canadian slopes especially, seems to have turned into a deadly sport this winter - with this tragedy happening as a celebrity was learning to ski on a BEGINNER'S SLOPE on Quebec's Mont Tremblant... And, earlier this year (last month, in fact) the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort tragedy that made a widower, too - only not a famous one, that one (but also a product of Quebec, as it turns out.)
Another accident was reported in-between; that one involving an avalanche, as I recall - google it, you may yet find it still.
All I can say is: it must be skier recruiting season in Heaven?

Family, friends gather for viewing for Natasha Richardson
Fri Mar 20, 11:21 PM
By Mesfin Fekadu, The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Liam Neeson looked distraught but grateful for the outpouring of sympathy as he greeted grieving family members and friends who attended a private viewing for wife Natasha Richardson on Friday.
Neeson was the last to leave the viewing at the Upper East Side's American Irish Historical Society, where he was joined by the couple's sons, - Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12 - as well as Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and sister, Joely Richardson. An array of famous friends came to express their sadness about the family's sudden loss.
Neeson hugged friends as he left the society's building at 8:40 p.m., after more than six hours of receiving condolences from friends including Mike Nichols, Diane Sawyer, Matthew Modine, Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
RIP, Natasha - you are so very missed, obviously.


Sask father given 3 years for 'reckless' actions in freezing deaths of daughters
By Jennifer Graham, The Canadian Press - Fri Mar 6, 6:25 PM
ROSE VALLEY, Sask. - A Saskatchewan man's behaviour that led to the freezing deaths of his two young daughters was "wanton and reckless" and deserves a three-year prison term, a judge ruled Friday.
Christopher Pauchay stood quietly and looked straight ahead as Judge Barry Morgan handed down the sentence in the deaths of Kaydance, 3, and Santana, 1.
It was January 2008 when Pauchay stumbled drunk from his home on the Yellow Quill First Nation and lost the girls in a frigid blizzard. He pleaded guilty in November to criminal negligence causing death.
"The children were completely helpless and vulnerable, and were totally dependent upon Mr. Pauchay for their care," said Morgan. "Mr. Pauchay's conduct that night clearly demonstrated a wanton and reckless disregard for the lives and safety of his children."
Here's that number again: 3 years... But anyway...
It used to be said that GOD Blessed with a lineage -with children- those that were worthy of having them. It is obviously no longer the case - and this would be the only time where evolution actually has the upper hand on creationism too; as "natural selection" creates the occasion for the most "fit" breeders to, ah, do their thing... And the result is this. Now, is that "evolution" - or the opposite? For, truth be told (and I know it will be painful to digest for all the "fittest genes" carriers out there...!) it is NOT about the quality of your genes but about the quality of your INNER SELF; your character; the person that you truly are...! THOSE are the true criteria that really determines future good (not to mention WORTHY) parents - pass the word, quick. Before more inane fools reproduce themselves.

Parents in Manitoba town concerned over death of girl who may have died from strep - Fri Mar 20, 6:58 PM
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - Parents in a small Manitoba community are upset after a six-year-old girl may have died from an easily treated disease.
Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, says the clinical suspicion is the child in Portage la Prairie died from strep throat and scarlet fever, but more tests are needed.
He said a cause of death should be determined by the weekend.
In the 1800's scarlet fever often resulted in death, but pediatrician Dr. Grant MacDougall says it's easily treatable unless not treated right away.
He says scarlett fever is strep with a rash, but rheumatic fever usually happens if strep throat is untreated for nine days or more.
MacDougall says parents should watch out for the warning signs _ sudden sore throat with fever and possible stomach pain.
As evidenced so many times, and again in the totally avoidable demise of Natasha Richardson (to once more use the celebrity example focused upon by the media) - when your hour has come, no amounts of vigilance in re warning signs will do SQUAT. Richardson could have had herself checked out - pride prevented her from admitting she needed that. Singer Laura Branigan never saw a specialist about here terrible migraines; she died of an aneurysm, I do believe. So many more like those two, out there, no one ever hears about: yet, it happens every day. The grim reaper gets a lot of help doing its reaping; oftentimes, from the reaped souls themselves...
As for these poor kids who may exhibit warning or rather alarming signs soon: parents, don't be too proud, like the famous examples here evidently were... Still, if it is there time to go, no matter what we do, they'll still go anyway...

Jealous teen who used sexual taunts in text messages convicted in Rengel murder
Fri Mar 20, 7:35 PM
By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - A jealous teenage girl who used sexual taunts in reams of online and text messages to orchestrate the killing of 14-year-old Stefanie Rengel, a girl she had never met but considered a rival, was convicted Friday of first-degree murder.
The victim's family made a plea for the court to send a message that murder has serious consequences regardless of age. The Crown said it will seek an adult sentence for the 17-year-old girl, known only as M.T.
Rengel was lured from her home on New Year's Day 2008, stabbed six times and left to die in the snow. The crime was allegedly carried out by M.T.'s boyfriend, who stands trial in the fall.
Murder in the Internet Age.
RIP, Stefanie Rengel.

Man shoots woman, kills self at Florida Wal-Mart
Wed Mar 4, 5:10 PM
By The Associated Press
FLORIDA CITY, Fla. - Authorities say a man shot a woman he knew while she was working at a Wal-Mart in Florida City, then fatally shot himself.
Miami-Dade Police Department spokeswoman Rebeca Perez says the shooting happened inside the store Wednesday morning after an argument between the two.
The woman is in critical condition and the man was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Their identities have not been released.
No one else was hurt.
Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman says the company is "deeply concerned" for the woman's well-being.
On Monday, an Arizona couple was shot outside a Wal-Mart there.
The woman died and her husband was critically injured.
Authorities say the suspect in that shooting killed himself after being stopped by police in New Mexico.
The motive wasn't known.
Wal-Marts down south are dangerous ground to thread...?
And it's not just because they sell guns down there (as opposed to their Canadian counterparts who never will, American Wal-Marts do sell firearms, yes) - remember the Wal-Mart employee who was dispatched to open the doors around opening time, when there was a huge sale starting that day...? He was stampeded to death by crazed customers seeking "a great bargain" on that memorable morning. The supervisor who dispatched the employee to open the doors knew full well of the stampede danger and should be deemed as responsible in the employee's death as any general who's ever dispatched a batallion of soldiers on a assuredly no-return mission.
No bargains whatsoever should be worth someone's LIFE.
RIP, Wal-Mart shoppers - and employee too.

Pennsylvania widow who shot spouse to be returned to Canada
Thu Mar 5, 5:56 PM
By The Associated Press
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - A federal judge has ordered the extradition of a northeastern Pennsylvania woman to Canada to face charges in her husband's death.
Forty-four-year-old Mary Beth Harshbarger fatally shot her husband while the couple were on a hunting trip near Buchans Junction, Newfoundland, in 2006.
Canadian officials say it was too dark to safely fire a weapon and charged Harshbarger with criminal negligence causing death.
The Pennsylvania woman says she mistook her husband, Mark Harshbarger, for a black bear.
That most probably is an insult to the intelligence of all black bears who may be reading this... Or a compliment to all "bears" of another ilk...! Whichever the case, the widow must be feeling pangs of remorse as well as dreading retaliation from the bear community - so she fled back to Pennsylvania, where there are no bears left alive, as we all know. Way to go, widow! Her defense can be triple-headed too, when one thinks about it. For, once she's extradited back to Canada, she can claim she mistook her husband for either a bear, a sasquatch or a wendigo. Way to go, widow!! It will be the first case in the annals of justice that has a cougar killing a bear and getting away with it.
RIP, Mark Harshbarger.

One dead, at least 2 wounded in shooting at Illinois church
Sun Mar 8, 1:47 PM
By The Associated Press
MARYVILLE, Ill. - Illinois state police say a man has shot a pastor to death and injured others at a church during a service in the community of Maryville.
Illinois Master Trooper Ralph Timmins says the man walked down the aisle during the early Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Maryville.
He said the man exchanged words with pastor Fred Winters and then pulled out a .45-calibre handgun.
Timmins said the man fatally shot Winters once before the gun jammed, then pulled out a knife and wounded himself.
Churchgoers tried to subdue the attacker and two of them suffered minor injuries.
Timmins said officials don't know if Winters and the suspect know each other.
Maryville is about 32 kilometres northeast of St. Louis.
If you don't want to listen to a particular pastor, don't attend his sermons... Shooting him is a bit extreme; boycotting is the civilized way to go.
RIP, pastor Fred Winters. More...

Pastor killed during service
Gunman opens fire in a Sunday morning church service. » What happened?
Gunman stabs himself, others with knife
Woman, children killed in shooting spree
Police hunt Real IRA shooting suspects
The insanity never stops: not even at the news-reporting level, I guess; is it just me that finds the headline "gunman stabs himself, others with knife" oxymoronic? I think not.
RIP, all the victims of insanity - including logic.

Trucker who held alleged bus beheader at bay still has dreams about experience
from: The Canadian Press - Tue Sep 2, 2:25 PM - 2008
MORDEN, Man. - Long-haul trucker Christopher Alguire says he still has dreams about what he saw as he pressed his body against the closed door of a Greyhound bus where a young man was brutally beheaded in the summer of 2008 in southern Manitoba.
You'd have to have gone through what Mr. Alguire went through to truly KNOW the true meaning of HORROR. Geeks like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Micheal Myers are weaklings and outright buffoons next to a real-life Vince Li doing what he did nearly right in front of you...

Treatment, not jail, for Manitoba bus beheader; victim's family angry
Thu Mar 5, 2:38 PM
By Chinta Puxley, The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG - A man who believed he was following God's orders when he stabbed and beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba has been found not criminally responsible, devastating the victim's loved ones.
Justice John Scurfield said Vince Li's attack on Tim McLean last summer was "barbaric," but the law makes allowances for those with severe mental illnesses.
"These grotesque acts are appalling," Scurfield said Thursday. "However, the acts themselves and the context in which they were committed are strongly suggestive of a mental disorder.
"He did not appreciate the act he committed was morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self defence and that he had been commanded by God to do so." (...)
Woe to the Crown and the "Justice" who nearly equate the inability to differenciate morally right from wrong to believing in a Command from GOD... True Justice Will Be swift for you too, on the Day of Reckoning, John Scrufield!
Typo - honest - Scurfield it is.

Victim's family says Manitoba bus beheader 'getting away with murder'
By Chinta Puxley, The Canadian Press - Thu Mar 5, 5:19 PM
WINNIPEG - The family of a man who was beheaded on a Greyhound bus says his killer is "getting away with murder," but the judge who found him not criminally responsible for the "barbaric" slaying says the law doesn't unnecessarily punish the mentally ill.
Vince Li's attack on Tim McLean in Manitoba last summer was "grotesque" and "appalling," said Justice John Scurfield.
"However, the acts themselves and the context in which they were committed are strongly suggestive of a mental disorder," the judge said Thursday. "He did not appreciate the act he committed was morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self-defence and that he had been commanded by God to do so." (...)
Both Crown and defence psychiatrists had testified at Li's trial that he was suffering from schizophrenia and believed the voice of God ordered him to kill McLean because the young man was a force of evil.
Li, 40, was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded not guilty. His DNA will be put on file but he won't have a criminal record.
He is to appear before a criminal review board within 90 days to determine how he will be institutionalized. His mental health will be reviewed every year by the same board to determine if he can be released into the community.
And they said pleas of "temporary insanity" wouldn't fly anymore...
RIP, Tim McLean.


Former pro wrestler accused in nursing home death
Thu Mar 5, 4:18 PM
By Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - During his glory days as a pro wrestler, Verne Gagne shared the spotlight with other burly men in trunks, guys with names like Killer Kowalski, Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher and Baron Von Raschke.
But all of that seemed well in the past until just weeks ago, when authorities say Gagne, 82 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, apparently body-slammed a 97-year-old fellow patient at the suburban nursing home where they both lived, causing the man's death.
Bloomington police are investigating, but not even the victim's widow wants to see the dementia-stricken Gagne prosecuted.
"It's been so hard on both families," said Greg Gagne, Gagne's son and a former wrestler himself.
Helmut Gutmann, a former cancer researcher who suffered from dementia himself, died Feb. 14, about three weeks after breaking his hip in the confrontation. Authorities ruled his death a homicide.
Never mess with a wrestler. Especially not if you're a geeky egghead type - retired, on top of that. Helmut Gutmann feared not Verne Gagne though - wow. You sure were a man with guts alright, Helmut - you took on one of the best grapplers of all-time, with no previous training...!
All kidding aside - both men recalled no details after their final confrontation (because there had been a previous one; the two old men truly didn't get along - alas, the second one would have tragic consequences.)
But truly now - it is RIDICULOUS to brand as a murderer a retired wrestler suffering from ALZHEIMER'S while the CRAZED BEHEADER gets away practically scot free... That, as much as anything else on this lousy mudball of ours, PROVES that Earthly Justice is NOT Justice at all! Sure - go ahead, release Vince Li into the community already, set him free, but make sure old man Verne Gagne can't put the smackdown on any more of the geriatric community...
RIP, Helmut Gutmann.

Colleen Howe, wife of hockey great Gordie Howe, dies at age 76
Fri Mar 6, 7:01 PM
By Neil Stevens, The Canadian Press
With a keen business mind and the interests of her husband and sons at heart, Colleen Howe was the glue that held the Howe family together.
She was such an integral part of her husband Gordie Howe's hockey career that her nickname was Mrs. Hockey.
Gordie was Mr. Hockey, reflecting his status as the NHL's all-time leading scorer before Wayne Gretzky broke his records, so it seemed right the woman who worked so hard for him behind the scenes should get a similar title.
Colleen Howe died Friday at the age of 76 in the family home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., following a long battle with Pick's disease, an incurable neurological form of dementia.
She was the outspoken business manager of one of the most prominent families in the history of the sport. As the first female hockey player agent she was as forceful in the boardroom as her husband was in rink corners for the Detroit Red Wings.
"The National Hockey League grieves the passing of Colleen Howe - a formidable woman, the wife and partner of our iconic player, the matriarch of a remarkable hockey family," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
There is no known cure for Pick's disease. Colleen was diagnosed with it in 2002. Her judgment and behaviour became impaired and her speech and memory more scrambled as the condition worsened.
"I thank God for the years we had," Gordie Howe said upon their 50th wedding anniversary in 2005.
Colleen was an only child raised by her divorced mother, with the help of an aunt and uncle, until her mother remarried. Colleen grew up on a farm outside Sandusky, Mich., where an arena was eventually named after her, and in Detroit.
Gordie Howe met Colleen Joffa at the Detroit bowling alley Lucky Strike Lanes during the 1951-52 Red Wings hockey season. She was a gregarious teen and he was a bashful but star player. They were married on April 15, 1953.
The couple had four children: Marty, Mark, Cathleen and Murray. The latter became a doctor who was involved in treating his mother in her final years. (...)
The First Lady of Hockey is no longer a part of the sport - lest she is associated to some "ice rink of dreams" (à la Field of Dreams) up there...? My only complaint is that she was never associated with the Hub of Hockey - the Boston Bruins organization. One of her sons, at least, could have...? No matter - she remains Mrs Hockey forevermore.
RIP, Colleen Joffa Howe.
More...


Boxer Parisi dies in car accident at 41
AP - Mar 25, 5:04 pm EDT
ROME (AP)—Boxer Giovanni Parisi, a former Olympic and world champion, died in a car accident in northern Italy on Wednesday. He was 41.
Parisi died when the car he was driving collided head on with a van on a highway outside the town of Voghera, where he lived, police said. The cause of the accident was under investigation, said police official Alessandro Casanova.
Parisi won the featherweight gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
He was the WBO lightweight champion from 1992-94, when he stepped up to junior welterweight. Parisi lost a decision to Julio Cesar Chavez for the WBC crown in 1995, but won the WBO version in 1996 and held it for two years.
He was knocked out trying to claim the WBO welterweight title in 2000, then fought only three times before his last reported bout in 2006, a loss for the European welterweight title.
Parisi finished with a pro record of 41-5-1 and 29 KOs.
“He was in a league of his own,” Italian boxing great Nino Benvenuti told Italy’s SKY TV. “He was very precise, very technically well-prepared, sometimes he just needed to touch his opponents … so they had watch to out for a surprise punch.”
RIP Giovanni. You should have had a chauffeur - but then again, if such was your fate, there was nothing to do about circumventing it...
One has just to look at Lady Di's demise, for example, to see that.

'Angel' actor Andy Hallett dies at age 33 of heart disease
By Solvej Schou, The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - An agent for 33-year-old singer and actor Andy Hallett says the former cast member from the vampire TV series "Angel" has died of congestive heart disease.
Hallett's agent Pat Brady says Hallett died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after having problems breathing. Brady says he has battled the heart condition for the past five years.
Hallett was a fan favourite on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff as Lorne, a green-skinned good guy demon who runs a karaoke club and can read a person's aura when they sing.
The show ran five seasons on the WB network and ended in 2004.
Hallett, an only child, is survived by his father Dave Hallett and mother Lori Hallett. More...
I feel for Dave and Lori - for they lost their only son and that lone offspring of theirs had but the oddest claim to fame his whole life through; to have played a devil on some television fantasy that had it all upside down to begin with. RIP, Andy.

Alain Bashung
Le chanteur Alain Bashung est mort
Article publié le 14 Mars 2009
Source : LE MONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters
Taille de l'article : 487 mots
Extrait :
La chanson française a perdu, samedi 14 mars, un grand monsieur. Alain Bashung, 61 ans, est mort samedi après-midi à l'hôpital Saint-Joseph à Paris. Depuis l'automne 2007, il était atteint d'un cancer du poumon et suivait une chimiothérapie. En raison de sa maladie, il avait dû annuler ses concerts prévus ce samedi 14 mars à Longjumeau (Essonne) et les 17 et 18 mars au Grand Rex à Paris. Sa dernière apparition publique s'est déroulée lors des dernières Victoires de la musique, le 28 février. Il y avait remporté trois nouveaux trophées, s'ajoutant à huit autres obtenus précédemment. Un triplé qui faisait de lui l'artiste le plus primé de l'histoire des Victoires. Il y était apparu alors très affaibli.
Bashung, for me, will always be the consummate rebel. I remember singing along to his most irreverential material way back when I was but a <puceau...! I had no idea what most of the stuff meant, but I recognized the irreverence anyhow - in his tone, in his désinvolture. I suppose he was a role-model on some subliminal level - maybe he helped mold my natural penchant for sarcastic wit, helped define it, even refine it... We lost another good one, I think - as big as Gainsbourg, I would say. May God Have Mercy on both of their souls!


And in other lugubrious news, this month...
Iraq suicide cyclist kills 28 in Baghdad
Sun Mar 8, 8:24 AM
BAGHDAD (AFP) - A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up killing at least 28 people and wounding 58 more outside a police academy in the Iraqi capital on Sunday in the bloodiest attack in weeks, officials said.
The bomber activated his explosive vest as he ploughed into the crowd on busy Palestine Street in central Baghdad, an interior ministry official told AFP.
"The death toll has reached 28 dead and 58 wounded. The majority of the dead were police or recruits," the official said.
An AFP photographer at Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital said many of the casualties he saw had serious injuries. The victims were taken to three hospitals in the city. More...
RIP, 28+ latest victims of maddening indocrination...

Massachusetts man killed sisters on 5-year-old's birthday
Sun Mar 29, 2:59 PM
By Glen Johnson, The Associated Press
MILTON, Mass. - A man on a rampage fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his five-year-old sister in front of a police officer and then headed toward his nine-year-old sister before officers shot him amid what their chief described as "a killing field."
There is no clear motive yet for the events that unfolded about 5 p.m. Saturday in this tony Boston suburb that is also home to Gov. Deval Patrick. But there is no doubt at the carnage wrought by 23-year-old Kerby Revelus against his three sisters in the two-family home they shared with their parents and grandmother.
Bianca was killed as a cake for her fifth birthday sat on the kitchen table. Sarafina, 9, dialled 911 and watched police shoot her brother as her elder sister, Samantha, lay dead on the floor.
Sarafina was hospitalized Sunday at the Boston Medical Center with defensive wounds to her hands and stab wounds in her abdomen and one of her legs. (...)
RIP, Bianca & Samantha

7 residents, 1 nurse die in nursing home shooting
N.C. Nursing Home Massacre - AP By TOM FOREMAN Jr. and KEVIN MAURER
CARTHAGE, N.C. – A lone gunman burst into a North Carolina nursing home Sunday morning and started "shooting everything," barging into the rooms of terrified patients, sparing some from his rampage without explanation while killing seven residents and a nurse caring for them.
Authorities said Robert Stewart also wounded three others, including the Carthage police officer who confronted him in a hallway of Pinelake Health and Rehab and stopped the brutal attack. (...)
By late Sunday afternoon, Krueger had charged Stewart, 45, of Moore County, with eight counts of first-degree murder and a single charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer. Authorities offered few other details, allowing only that Stewart was not a patient or an employee at the nursing home and isn't believed to be related to any of the victims. Authorities said they would release more information at a news conference Monday morning.
"I don't know if the emotion entirely has set in," said Police Chief Chris McKenzie, a Carthage native who said nothing in his nearly 20-year law enforcement career compared to Sunday's slaughter. "It's a small community built on faith, and faith will get us through."
While authorities declined to comment on a possible motive, Stewart's ex-wife said he had been reaching out recently to family members, telling them he had cancer and was preparing for a long trip and to "go away." Sue Griffin said she was married to Stewart for 15 years, and while they hadn't spoken since divorcing in 2001, he had been trying to call her during the past week through her son, mother, sister and grandmother.
"He did have some violent tendencies from time to time," Griffin said. "I wouldn't put it past him. I hate to say it, but it is true."
Authorities said Stewart began his rampage around 10 a.m. at Pinelake Health and Rehab in the North Carolina Sandhills about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh, firing shots inside and outside the home. It ended when 25-year-old Officer Justin Garner traded gunfire with Stewart in a hallway, wounding the suspect.(...)
"He just came in and started shooting everywhere" - said an eyewitness. That sums it all up right there; madness can erupt at just about anytime and for no reason at all.
RIP, nursing home eight...

19 killed in Ivory Coast stadium stampede
15 minutes ago (March 29th, 2009)
ABIDJAN, March 29, 2009 (AFP) - Fans stampeded in an Abidjan stadium during a World Cup match featuring top European-based stars on Sunday killing at least 19 people and injuring 132, a minister said.
Hundreds of fans with tickets tried to force their way into the Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Ivory Coast's biggest city as the match against Malawi started, a medical source told AFP.
Police were said to have fired tear gas to control crowds who had wanted to see top European-based stars taking part and the stampede was followed by a wall collapse, according to the source.
Many casualties were treated at the stadium as the match went ahead and the worst injured were taken to the Treichville hospital in Abidjan and a military hospital.
Sports and Youth Minister Dagobert Banzio said on national television that 19 people were killed and 132 injured in the disaster.
People do the craziest things at sporting events - but it truly gets the craziest at European football games. There must be something about soccer, I suppose... I mean, call it barbaric and retarded, but at least rival hockey fans will only hit each other a few times, nornally... Baseball fans will most often simply exchange expletives (America's pasttime being such a cerebral sport and all, they tend to stay at that level, even in rough mode; and even the players' violence is stymied, what with the bench-clearing brawls being all about MINIMIZING CONTACT and potential injury...!)
RIP, Ivory Coast 19...


Mars Est Mort
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