Missouri: Former nurse charged in VA hospital deaths

A former nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Columbia was charged Monday with 10 counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 10 patients in 1992.

The charges against Richard Williams were filed by Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane and capped a lengthy investigation aided by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the FBI.

More than 40 patients on Ward 4 East at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia died in 1992 while under the care of Richard Williams, who has denied wrongdoing.

The FBI had previously concluded that 11 of the deaths were “highly” suspicious and 22 were “moderately suspicious.”

Oklahoma: Workers prepare for bridge demolition

Workers continued preparations Monday to demolish a section of the Interstate 40 bridge that was struck by a barge and collapsed on May 26, sending 14 people to their deaths as cars plunged into the Arkansas River.

The damaged section of the bridge has to be removed so that the span can be rebuilt. Actual demolition should begin this afternoon or Wednesday morning, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Troy Collins.

Part of the collapsed span near Webbers Falls is supported by the barge that struck it. Workers were stabilizing the barge Monday and setting up monitoring equipment to sense any movement in it.

New York City: Jupiter’s moon shows extensive volcanoes

A last, over-the-shoulder glance at the moon called Io is showing scientists that Jupiter’s hot companion is bubbling with more volcanoes than anyone expected.

In its last series of close-up photos of Io, America’s successful Galileo spacecraft gathered images that add another 13 active volcanoes to the dozens already known. It confirms Io’s identity as the most volcanically active body known in the solar system.

Io’s surprising volcanoes spewing huge umbrella-shaped plumes up from the moon’s crusty surface were first spotted by two Voyager spacecraft that zipped past Jupiter in 1979 and 1980. Since 1995, Galileo has watched the nearly constant volcanic activity from the moon’s mottled crust.

Houston: Energy executive commits suicide

The treasurer of El Paso Corp., one of several energy trading companies facing questions about its accounting practices, shot himself to death at his home, police said Monday.

There was no immediate indication that the death on Sunday of Charles D. Rice was related to the company’s troubles. According to industry executives and a neighbor, he was known to suffer from some health problems.

Still, the circumstances were reminiscent of the Jan. 25 suicide of Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter, who shot himself in his car after the company collapsed in an accounting scandal.

Wall Street executives who dealt with El Paso said it was widely known that Rice suffered from heart and kidney problems. A neighbor, Donna Miller, said Rice was undergoing dialysis, and she believed he was on a list to receive a kidney transplant.

Maryland: Couple accused of killing tourists

Two tourists who disappeared on a Memorial Day trip to the beach were shot to death, and their bodies were dismembered, placed in plastic bags and dumped in a Delaware trash bin, police say one suspect has told them.

Erika and Benjamin Sifrit, both 24, were ordered held without bail Monday on two counts of murder in the killings of Martha Crutchley, 51, and her boyfriend, Joshua Ford, 32, of Virginia.

Erika Sifrit told police that her husband shot and killed the couple, then dismembered the bodies. The Sifrits then dumped the remains in a garbage bin in nearby Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Investigators do not have a motive for the killings.