MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — A 94-year-old man was found fatally beaten early Monday in a thicket of bushes, his left hand cut off, and three people were arrested in what might have been a botched robbery, authorities said.
Willie Lee Morgan, who was reported missing Saturday, “died a horrible death,” Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnigan said.
Two butcher knives and a left hand were found in one of the suspects’ cars.
“This poor man was supposed to die peacefully on a front porch swing, not like this,” Jarnigan said.
Darrell Nance, 22, was charged with murder and Jessica Lane, 23, was charged with accessory to murder. Brice Whaley, whose age was not immediately available, was charged as an accessory after the fact and abuse of a corpse.
Jarnigan said the suspects may have been trying to steal cash from Morgan’s home or hold him for ransom as payback for money owed by some of Morgan’s family members.
Calif.: Pilot in crash was student
National Transportation Safety Board authorities were in Corona on Monday trying to learn why two small planes collided over a row of businesses, dropping a macabre shower of debris and body parts and killing someone inside an auto dealership when one of the aircraft punctured the roof. All four people aboard the two aircraft also were killed in Sunday’s crash. Family members of one of the victims told a television station he was a student pilot flying one of the planes.
Mich.: Immigrants’ driver’s licenses
Michigan will no longer let illegal immigrants get driver’s licenses, a practice just seven other states continue to allow. The policy announced Monday also bars people who are legal but not permanent U.S. residents from getting licenses. Legislation to allow those on temporary work or student visas to get licenses is pending in the Legislature.
Montana: Avalanche kills skier
An avalanche in the southwestern Montana area known as Beehive Basin killed a college student on a backcountry ski trip, officials said Monday. The avalanche on Sunday swept Tyler Stetson, in his 20s, into trees, and he was dead when searchers found him within 10 minutes, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Department said.
Louisiana: White separatists rally
About 50 white separatists protested the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday in Jena. Chants of “No KKK” from the mostly college-age counter-demonstrators were met with a chant from the separatists that contained a racial epithet. Race relations in Jena (population about 2,800) have been in the news ever since six black teenagers were arrested in the beating of a white classmate at Jena High School in December 2006.
Colorado: Flight turbulence injuries
Heavy turbulence injured 10 people, including two flight attendants, on a United flight bound for Chicago early Monday, the airline said. Flight 1028 was diverted to Denver International Airport about 3 a.m. and the eight passengers and two flight attendants were taken to Denver hospitals, the airline said.
Iraq: Bomber kills 18 mourners
A suicide bomber walked undetected into a funeral Monday and blew himself up, killing as many as 18 people and injuring nine in a predominantly Sunni village near Tikrit, police said. The explosion in the Hajaj village killed Iraqis attending a funeral for Antar Abdullah, a tribal leader. Seven bodies were found around Baghdad on Monday, all men who had been shot, police said. The U.S. military Monday also reported the deaths of two personnel over the weekend.
Afghanistan: Scared from school
Around 300,000 Afghan children cannot attend school because of violence in Afghanistan’s southern provinces, President Hamid Karzai told the parliament on its opening day Monday. The number of children unable to go to school is sharply up — by 50 percent — from a year ago, when 200,000 children were forced to stay home because of security concerns, Karzai said.
Sudan: Alleged militia man named
The suspected head of a Sudanese militia accused of murder, rape and other atrocities in the country’s Darfur region has received a senior government post, the Sudanese government confirmed Monday. President Omar al-Bashir dismissed allegations against the man as untrue. Musa Hilal, the alleged leader of the so-called janjaweed militias, was named adviser to Sudan’s Ministry of Federal Affairs last week, Sudanese media reported Monday.
Congo: Peace agreement in east
Government negotiators and rebel groups reached a deal to end fighting in the vast country’s restive east, where about 800,000 people had to flee their homes over the last year, officials said Monday. All parties agreed to the accord and scheduled a formal signing for today, Vital Kamerhe, the president of Congo’s national assembly, announced.
From Herald news services
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