Iowa

U.S. Marshals capture fugitive from Kansas

A man authorities say was wanted in connection with a triple homicide in Kansas was captured in Muscatine, in eastern Iowa.

Daniel L. Yoke, 31, was captured Thursday by U.S. Marshals after investigators learned he may be living in Muscatine.

Yoke is charged by Sedgwick County, Kan., authorities with aiding in the dismemberment and burning of three men.

Wichita nightclub owner Arturo Garcia is said to have shot the men to death inside his club during the summer of 2003. He is on trial in Kansas for the murders of Clint Jones and brothers Oscar and Nicolas Ramirez.

Yoke is being held in the Muscatine County Jail awaiting extradition back to Kansas.

KANSAS CITY, Kan.

‘Cool’ parent convicted of furnishing alcohol

A Kansas City, Kan., mother who prosecutors said wanted to be a “cool” parent has been convicted of several misdemeanor charges related to a vandalism spree during which children drank alcohol and spray-painted traffic signs.

Bonnie S. Brown, 46, was convicted Friday of three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, three counts of contributing to a child’s misconduct and one count of criminal damage to property. She faces up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, or both.

The Wyandotte County District Court jury acquitted Brown on three additional charges of furnishing alcohol to minors, including her daughter, a Piper High School sophomore.

During Brown’s trial, teenage girls testified that Brown drove them around Kansas City, Kan., in April 2003 while they spray-painted their graduation year, “06,” on 22 traffic signs.

RUSSELL

Suspect to fight transfer to Mississippi

A suspect in two murders who is being held in Kansas will fight his extradition to Mississippi, his attorney said Friday.

Mississippi authorities had filed an extradition warrant against Roger Gillett, who is charged with the murders of Vernon Hulett and Linda Heintzelman. Authorities believe the couple was killed at their home in Hattiesburg, Miss., but their bodies were found March 29 stuffed inside a freezer on a farm near Luray.

Gillett is being held in the Russell County jail.

Gillett’s girlfriend, Lisa Jo Chamberlin, also is charged with murder. She is already in custody in Mississippi, awaiting trial.

FORT SCOTT

Hard-50 sentence ordered in murder case

A Fort Scott man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without possibility of parole for 50 years in the death of a 72-year-old woman.

Uriah Neal Beckman pleaded guilty in May to capital murder in the death of Kathryn A. Goddard, 72, of Fort Scott.

Beckman also was sentenced to 10 years and eight months for aggravated burglary, with the sentences to run consecutively, Atty. Gen. Phill Kline’s office said.