Across The Nation

GRAND JURY HEARING EVIDENCE OF PLOT IN OKLAHOMA CITY BLAST

OKLAHOMA CITY - Conspiracy theorists and federal prosecutors both believe Timothy McVeigh didn't act alone in blowing up the Oklahoma City federal building. They agree on little else.

A state grand jury has been called to determine whether other people were involved - and whether the government knew about the April 19, 1995, attack in advance. The blast killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

Jurors were to begin hearing testimony today.

McVeigh awaits execution after his conviction on murder and conspiracy charges last month. Co-defendant Terry Nichols is scheduled to be tried on the same charges in federal court Sept. 29.

The federal indictment alleged the men plotted the bombing with "others unknown." But federal authorities doubt a larger conspiracy and deny any prior knowledge of the attack.

Still, several potential witnesses say they saw McVeigh with others. And some say agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were aware of a bombing plot.

Teen says he killed father to protect mother from attack

MOUNT SINAI, N.Y. - A teenager arrested in the shooting death of his father told police that he loaded a shotgun, aimed it at the back of his father's head and pulled the trigger to protect his mother from being hit.

The 15-year-old pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of first-degree manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting late Saturday of his 43-year-old father, Kurt Iberger, a real-estate developer.

The youth said his parents were arguing and he believed his father was going to assault his mother, said Suffolk County police spokesman Jack O'Connor. But police said they had no record of domestic violence in the Iberger home.

Judge declares a mistrial in 1971 Georgia slaying case

DECATUR, Ga. - A judge today declared a mistrial in the case of a man who is accused of killing his stepson 26 years ago and framing the boy's toddler sister.

Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller granted a defense motion by lawyers for Jan Barry Sandlin because the sister, now 28, violated court rules when she watched her mother's testimony on television.

He did not immediately rule on whether the case could be retried. He continued a gag order in the case.

Sandlin, 46, is serving a life sentence at a Florida prison for an unrelated armed-robbery conviction.

The death of 4-month-old Matthew Golder in December 1971 had been ruled an accident.

Tracy Rhame grew up believing she had killed her baby brother but later persuaded authorities to reopen the case. They concluded Sandlin had placed 2-year-old Tracy Golder in her brother's crib to make it appear as if she had thrown the baby to his death.

3 workers die after gas leak on aircraft carrier at shipyard

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Three workers were found dead after lethal gas and raw sewage flooded a pump room deep within the aircraft carrier Harry S Truman, Newport News Shipbuilding officials said yesterday.

The leak forced the evacuation of the carrier Saturday. Yesterday, emergency crews found the bodies of three pipefitters: Richard Eure Jr., 42, James Morris Jr., 40, and Richard Thompson, 45.

The cause of the leak is unknown, said Thomas Schievelbein, the yard's vice president of operations.

The carrier was christened last September and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 1998.

HMOs move to head off cuts in Medicare payments

WASHINGTON - The nation's HMOs this week will launch a renewed lobbying blitz against congressional proposals for deep cuts in the payments they receive for Medicare patients, warning that beneficiaries in high-cost states could lose one of their most cherished benefits: free prescription drugs.

The health-maintenance organizations will try to persuade a House-Senate conference committee to drop a Senate plan that would force deep cuts in payments to HMOs serving Medicare beneficiaries. The financial cost to the industry and the possible impact on beneficiaries would be felt nationwide, but they would be greatest in states where HMOs have enrolled huge numbers of senior citizens.