Manslaughter charge filed in Ottawa slaying

Ottawa An Ottawa man was charged Monday afternoon with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of another man that occurred while the two were looking at a revolver.

Duane Brannan, 24, was in the Franklin County Jail on $10,000 bond following a court appearance before District Judge Thomas Sachse. Sachse appointed attorney Bryan Hastert to represent Brannan.

About 11:35 p.m. Saturday, Michael Higginbotham, 23, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, Ottawa Police Capt. Ron Puterbaugh said.

Higginbotham and Brannan were looking at a revolver when Higginbotham was shot.

The shooting occurred in Higginbotham’s mobile home 1742 S. Elm St., Lot No. 3. The pistol belonged to Higginbotham.

Brannan’s next court date is 9 a.m. Wednesday.

False tax return brings 15-month sentence

Kansas City, Kan. A DeSoto woman was sentenced Monday to 15 months in a federal prison without parole for filing a false income tax return.

Marlene Saathof, 53, pleaded guilty Feb. 4 to the charge. U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn H. Vratil handed down the sentence.

U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren said Saathof admitted in her plea that she failed to report as income on her 1998 1040 U.S. individual income tax return about $292,471 that she embezzled from her employer, Entire Supply.

Suspects stopped for throwing egg

An egg thrown at a Douglas County Sheriff’s patrol car led to a car stop early Friday morning.

A sheriff’s officer questioned two males, ages 17 and 18, after the incident occurred about 1:20 a.m. in the area of 29th Street and Haskell Avenue.

The sheriff’s officer had passed a car and one of the occupants threw an egg that struck the patrol car in the side mirror area, a report said.

The officer turned his patrol car around and stopped the suspect car. No arrests were made, but a report was sent to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Campus police officers meet this week at KU

More than 100 chiefs and other representatives from campus law enforcement agencies are attending a convention this week at Kansas University.

The convention is for the members of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators from the Midwest region. The convention began Sunday and ends Wednesday.

Those attending will have the opportunity to sit in on several law enforcement seminars pertaining to campus security and related issues. The seminars will be in various campus buildings.

A banquet will be tonight at Springhill Suites by Marriott, 1 Riverfront Plaza. Larry Welch, director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, will be the speaker.