Vietnam War Crypt At Tomb Of Unknowns To Stay Empty

WASHINGTON - The crypt that once held the symbolic unknown dead from the Vietnam War will remain empty for now, the Pentagon said today.

Scientific techniques for identifying remains have advanced to the point that it's not appropriate to bury the remains of any other soldier not yet identified, defense officials said.

The Vietnam War crypt at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery has remained empty since May 1998, when the body of a pilot was exhumed and identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie.

The U.S. continues to receive remains from the Vietnam War, as crash sites are excavated and the Vietnamese government hands over recovered bodies. Those remains are taken to a special laboratory in Hawaii for identification.

"I think that as long as there are living relatives of some of our missing men, there will always be a hope that remains that are now at the lab will be identifiable at some point," said Rudy de Leon, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

Hostages shot and one dies as standoff at hospital ends

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - A hostage standoff at the state's largest mental institution ended tragically today when a fired employee killed one hostage and critically wounded the other after police broke a window to get a better look at him, authorities said.

Dennis Czajkowski, a former nurse at Norristown State Hospital who had held the hostages since Wednesday, shot nursing supervisor Carol Kepner to death, state police spokesman Robert Whitbeck said.

Czajkowski wounded a second hostage, Maria Jordan, who was flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Whitbeck said. She was in critical condition.

Czajkowski, 40, was taken away by medical helicopter with unspecified injuries.

Fla. pastor must pay millions for bank fraud, tax evasion

TAMPA, Fla. - The Rev. Henry Lyons, former president of one of the nation's largest black church organizations, was ordered to repay $5.2 million today for bank fraud and tax evasion.

Lyons, already serving 5 1/2 years in state prison for bilking companies and stealing from charities, also was sentenced by a federal judge to four years and three months behind bars. But the federal sentence will be served concurrently with the state sentence.

"I do ask for mercy today," Lyons told U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. "I'm 57. I don't have a lot of time to right all the wrong I have done."

Lyons pleaded guilty March 17 to federal charges related to his business dealings as head of the National Baptist Convention USA. He admitted failing to pay taxes on $1.3 million in income, defrauding a bank and making false statements.

Lyons also was convicted in state court in February of bilking nearly $4 million from corporations seeking business with his group and stealing nearly $250,000 donated to rebuild black churches in the South.

Man convicted of murdering 16-year-old girl is executed

ATMORE, Ala. - One of two men convicted of killing a 16-year-old girl after they escaped from a North Carolina prison camp was executed in the electric chair early today.

Brian K. Baldwin, 40, was pronounced dead at 12:29 a.m. His accomplice, Edward Horsley, was executed in 1996.

The two men abducted Naomi Rolon, and stabbed and sexually assaulted her before driving her to Alabama, where they killed her, prosecutors said.

Former President Carter, Coretta Scott King and members of the Congressional Black Caucus contended Baldwin was a victim of racism in the judicial system. They said the black inmate, accused in the slaying of a white girl, was convicted by an all-white jury in which potential black jurors were eliminated by prosecutors.