Buried alive, Alabama man leads cops to pair

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PHENIX CITY, Ala. — A man buried alive in a shallow grave next to his murdered son survived and led police to his alleged attackers, authorities said yesterday.

Two men apparently bent on robbery slit the throat of Forrest Bowyer, 54, Monday and threw him into a grave on top of his dead son, 12, whom the men had shot three times, police said.

Bowyer played dead as they buried him, kicked out of the grave after they left and made his way to a highway. Michael David Carruth, 43, and Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr., 22, were arrested 12 hours after Bowyer identified them. Bowyer was hospitalized in stable condition.

Car-rental company ordered to pay back speed fines

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A car-rental company that used satellites to track and charge customers for speeding was ordered yesterday to pay back the $10,000 total to the drivers it fined.

The Connecticut Consumer Protection Commission said Acme Rent-a-Car's practice of assessing customers $150 each time they crossed the speed limit violated the law. The company tracked the customers' driving habits through global-positioning devices that many rental agencies use to locate their vehicles when they are stolen or taken across state or national borders.

Company to pay $55 million to settle bias allegations

ATLANTA — A Georgia insurance company agreed yesterday to pay $55 million to settle allegations it charged blacks higher premiums for life-insurance policies for more than 30 years.

Life Insurance of Georgia will refund $51 million on about 2-<133>1/2 million policies sold mainly in 12 Southern states. The settlement also covers policies sold by Southland Life Insurance, a Life of Georgia affiliate.

The company also will pay a $4 million fine that will be divided among all 50 states. Both companies are owned by the Amsterdam-based ING Group.

Father suspected in deaths of four kids by barbecue fumes

LOS ANGELES — Four children died and two others received critical injuries from barbecue-grill fumes inside their house yesterday, and police, who at first thought it was an accident, said they suspect the children's father may have tried to kill them.

The father, identified as Adair Garcia, 30, was also severely injured but was expected to recover at a hospital, where sheriff's deputies were standing guard and waiting to question him.

Investigators initially thought the children, whose ages ranged from 2 to 10, had died during the night when their father tried to heat the family home in Pico Rivera, 15 miles east of Los Angeles.

But the focus of the investigation shifted after investigators learned the gas heating was working. The children were killed by carbon-monoxide poisoning.

Investigators said Garcia was estranged from his wife.

Counselor to plead guilty in teenage camper's death

PHOENIX — Authorities announced a deal yesterday under which a counselor at a tough-love boot camp will plead guilty to a lesser charge in connection with the death of a teenage camper and cooperate in a case against the camp's director.

Troy A. Hutty was one of two counselors who put Anthony Haynes, 14, in a motel bathtub to cool him after he collapsed in triple-digit heat last summer. The teen died of complications of dehydration and near-drowning.

As part of the deal, prosecutors will recommend that a judge sentence Hutty to probation on a negligent-homicide charge. Hutty was originally indicted for manslaughter, which carries a maximum 12-1/2 years in jail.

Director Charles Long II was charged last week in the teenager's death. Two other staffers also face charges.