Herald staff
SEATTLE — Two brothers have been convicted of second-degree murder in a fatal stabbing that followed a traffic dispute.
Edgar and Sergio Anaya, 18 and 21, face 13 to 20 years in prison under state guidelines when they are sentenced Jan. 12 for the death of Antonio Moreno, 36, of White Center.
The Anayas, who claimed they acted in self-defense, were convicted Monday by a King County Superior Court jury after slightly more than a day of deliberations.
After the verdict, Blanca Moreno, the dead man’s widow, and her five daughters waited in a hall to shake the hands of the jurors.
Testimony showed the death followed a quinceanera, a traditional Hispanic party for a 15-year-old girl, that was attended by the Anayas and Morenos on Aug. 21, 1999, although the two families did not know each other.
The Anaya brothers, driving impatiently behind the Morenos, tried to pass and hit the door of their car, then sped away but stalled a few blocks away after hitting a stop sign.
Three of the daughters and Blanca Moreno testified that the two brothers beat and then stabbed Antonio Moreno seven times.
Drilling ban remains: A moratorium on exploratory drilling for petroleum and natural gas off the northern British Columbia coast will remain in effect, Premier Ujjal Dosanjh said. The ban will not be revisited until science offers greater assurance of protection from pollution caused by spills, including spills resulting from earthquakes, Dosanjh said Monday. Officials from the northwestern part of the province have been pressing for the drilling ban to be lifted for economic reasons, and their cause was adopted this summer by former provincial Energy Minister Dan Miller of Prince Rupert. Dosanjh said environmental protection must take precedence over economic diversification. A review by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1998 indicates reserves amounting to 9.8 billion barrels of oil and 43.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The recoverable potential, a third of the oil and 90 percent of the gas, is equal to more than half the country’s conventional oil reserves and 60 percent of the gas.
Couple die in plane crash: A man and his wife were found dead in the wreckage of a small plane Monday in a wooded area of rural Benton County near Corvallis. Robert R. Dickerson, 27, the pilot, and his wife, 25-year-old Michelle A. Dickerson, were killed, said Kay West, a sheriff’s spokeswoman. The rented Cessna 150 was flying from Eugene to the town of Independence, just south of Salem. The small plane last was seen on radar north of Corvallis at about 10 p.m. Sunday. Three search planes and a ground team patrolled the area Monday. A National Guard helicopter spotted the crash site at about 2:30 p.m. Robert Dickerson was a senior Salem firefighter-paramedic and went from station to station evaluating medical training. He received his pilot’s license this summer, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Governor’s car stolen: Leaving keys in the car isn’t a good idea, even when it’s parked at the governor’s house in Portland. Gov. John Kitzhaber’s wife, Sharon, learned that lesson this past weekend when the couple’s leased Mercury Grand Marquis was found, badly dented, wedged between a stop sign and a light pole at the end of an exit ramp off U.S. 26, which runs through the middle of the city. A man who appeared disoriented and drunk was seen grabbing items from the back seat of the late-model vehicle when a tow truck driver, Michael Block, drove past early Saturday and shined a light at him. The man asked Block for a ride out of town. Instead, the tow truck driver alerted his dispatcher, and the man walked off. The car, which Sharon Kitzhaber drives for official business, was last used Friday, said Bob Applegate, the governor’s spokesman. She had left the car unlocked in the driveway of their home in the West Hills near the Oregon Zoo, Applegate said. The Kitzhabers didn’t know the vehicle was missing but they reported it stolen as soon as they were notified it had been found, police said.
