Ohio: Triple death-row inmate executed for ’84 murder

The only inmate under a death sentence in three states was executed by injection Friday for killing an Ohio woman during a crime spree across the Midwest in 1984.

Alton Coleman, 46, died at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for beating 44-year-old Marlene Walters to death in her home in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood after she served him lemonade.

Walters’ husband, Harry, was among the witnesses who watched the execution in person; others watched on a TV hookup. Harry Walters was beaten so severely in the attack that a sliver of bone was driven into his brain, leaving him permanently disabled.

Coleman, described by prosecutors as someone who charmed his way into his victims’ lives, was also sentenced to death for strangling a 9-year-old girl in Illinois and stomping and strangling a 7-year-old girl in Indiana. He was suspected of numerous other crimes, including rape and robbery.

South Dakota: Governor says hundreds will be tested for HIV

Hundreds of people will be tested for the AIDS virus after the arrest of an infected college basketball player on charges of having unprotected sex, the governor said Friday.

Nikko Briteramos, an 18-year-old freshman at Si Tanka-Huron University, was arrested Tuesday and charged with five counts of knowingly exposing a woman to HIV. Briteramos, who is from Chicago, remained in jail Friday on $10,000 bail.

More than 50 people were tested Thursday, and none had any immediate sign of the virus, Gov. Bill Janklow said. Additional testing will be required at three weeks, three months and six months, he said.

One of the people tested gave the names of 70 others who were in contact with Briteramos, and the chain will undoubtedly run into the hundreds before everyone is tested, Janklow said.

Chicago: Drug-soaked tablecloths lead to airport arrest

A man was arrested at O’Hare International Airport for allegedly smuggling opium-soaked tablecloths into the country from Thailand, authorities said.

Michael S. James of Minneapolis was arrested April 18 with 90 of the tablecloths sealed in plastic bags in his luggage, according to court records and investigators.

The opium was bound for the Minneapolis area, where it would have been processed to produce more than 9 pounds of heroin worth about $5 million, police said.

The smuggling method was “amazingly ingenious,” said Lt. John Cich, who leads the narcotics unit of the Hennepin County, Minn., Sheriff’s Department.

Police in Minneapolis, acting on a tip, notified U.S. Customs agents in Chicago that James was coming through, and a drug-sniffing dog detected the opium in his two suitcases, officials said.

James remained in custody Friday.

Colorado: Investigators question teens on wildfire

Authorities have questioned three teen-age boys as they investigate the cause of a 2,500-acre wildfire that has threatened homes in the foothill town of Bailey.

The blaze was 35 percent contained Friday as light rain sprinkled the area and crews worked to build fire lines, but officials feared more wind could slow the fight. About 150 homes remained evacuated.

“They’re making excellent progress. They’re way ahead of their expectations,” fire operations chief Mike Rieser said.

The boys being questioned were seen running from a ridge behind the high school when the fire started Tuesday, said Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener. Smokers often gather on the ridge.

“We’re looking into the possibility that they were ditching a class at the time,” Wegener said.

Colorado: Air Force airman charged in serial rapes

An Air Force airman was charged with sexual assault and kidnapping Friday for a string of attacks against women near Colorado State University during the past year.

The 27 charges against Senior Airman Troy Graves, 29, included unlawful sexual conduct, burglary and robbery. They came one day after prosecutors in Philadelphia charged him with raping several women in that city, and murdering one, in the late 1990s.

Graves, arrested Tuesday in Fort Collins, was advised of the charges via video conference from a jail. He was ordered held on $1 million bail.

A telephone message to Graves’ lawyer, Kathryn Hay, was not returned Friday.

Police said seven women had been attacked and robbed near Colorado State University between May 2001 and this month.

Dist. Atty. Stuart VanMeveren said Graves would likely stay in Colorado several months before being extradited to Philadelphia. It hasn’t been decided where he would face court proceedings first.