Prosecutor: Disabled victims held 'like zoo animals'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Five indicted in alleged fraud, abuse scheme


• Indictment alleges hate crimes


• Two victims died


• Alleged ringleader could face death penalty

Philadelphia (CNN) -- Four adults imprisoned in a dark Philadelphia boiler room, beaten and underfed, were confined like zoo animals, federal prosecutors said Wednesday in announcing a 196-count indictment against their alleged captors.

The litany of federal charges against the alleged ringleader and her posse is the first hate crime case of its kind -- the victims were mentally and physically disabled, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Charges against the five defendants, together and individually, include sex trafficking, murder, fraud and forced human labor, among others.

The defendants, according to prosecutors, held the four victims in subhuman conditions in a scheme to steal Social Security disability payments.

Linda Ann Weston, 52, was described by police as the ringleader of an alleged fraud and abuse scheme.

Linda Ann Weston, 52, whom police have described as the ringleader, her daughter, Jean McIntosh, 33, Gregory Thomas, Sr., 49, Eddie Wright, 52, and Nicklaus Woodard, 26, are accused of using isolation, intimidation, threats of violence and violence to control the victims and each defendant had a role in the racketeering enterprise, according to the indictment.

Brother of basement captive describes emotional reunion

The investigation into Weston and her alleged co-conspirators began when the four adults were found in October 2011 locked in the sub-basement room with no food and only a bucket for a toilet.

According to the indictment, the defendants beat the victims, kept them captive in locked closets, basements and attics, deprived them of adequate food and medical care, and moved them between Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Florida in order to further the scheme and evade law enforcement.

The defendants also are charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- which criminalizes violence motivated by any person's actual or perceived disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity -- for their alleged actions against the disabled victims.

"The physically and mentally disabled are among the most vulnerable in our society. They deserve to be treated with respect and compassion, not violence," U.S Attorney Zane David Memeger said in a statement. "Linda Weston and others, in fact, decided to prey on these victims specifically because of their physical and mental challenges and they did so through violence, fear and intimidation for the purpose of stealing Social Security payments that were meant for the victims' long-term care."

As the first hate crimes case of its kind because the victims were disabled, the indictment alleges that Weston's "abusive control and confinement techniques" caused the deaths of two of the victims, including Weston's former roommate, Maxine Lee, who she allegedly continued to collect benefits from after she died of acute meningitis.

The medical examiner said a contributing factor in Lee's death was "cachexia of unknown origin," or malnutrition. The manner of death is listed as "natural causes."

New details emerge in case of people held captive in Philadelphia

"Shocking does not begin to describe the criminal allegations in this case where the victims were tied up and confined like zoo animals and treated like property akin to slaves," Memeger said.

The four adults held captive -- Edwin Sanabria, Herbert Knowles, Tamara Breeden and Derwin McLemire -- were locked in a pitch-black, 13-by-7 foot room that housed the former boiler used to heat the building, police said.

A penetrating stench of urine and feces still hung in the chamber days after the discovery. McLemire had been chained to the boiler, police said.

"I used the bucket to go to the bathroom. Others used the same bucket," Sanabria testified last January at hearing where a judge ordered the case to go to trial. When asked where he took a bath, he said they "used the same bucket we used to urinate in."

Lawyer: Police contacted in 2003 about chief suspect

The investigation took several bizarre twists as authorities tried to piece together the evidence in the case, which has spread to at least two other states after detectives discovered that one of the accused had traveled across state lines with the people found in the boiler room.

"Today's Indictment represents just one more step towards closure and healing, not only for the victims of this heinous hate crime, but for the community as a whole," FBI Special Agent-in-Charge John Brosnan said in a statement.

If convicted of all federal charges, each of the defendants faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison. Weston potentially faces the death penalty and mandatory restitution of approximately $212,000.

Due to the federal charges, the state plans to withdraw its charges against Weston, Thomas, Wright and McIntosh, according to the district attorney's office in Philadelphia. They were scheduled to go on trial January 28.

Weston's attorney was not immediately available for comment.

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Romney to be honored Friday at D.C. luncheon

Mitt Romney will make it to Washington, D.C. for inauguration week after all.

The 2012 GOP presidential nominee and his wife Ann are scheduled to attend a luncheon in their honor Friday at Washington's J.W. Marriott hotel, National Journal reported this afternoon. The reception will be hosted by two of Romney's biggest campaign fundraisers: Virginia philanthropist Catherine Reynolds and hotel tycoon Bill Marriott, Jr.

Romney, a longtime friend to the Marriott family, serves on Marriott International's board of directors. While on the trail, he and his traveling staff stayed almost exclusively at Marriott hotels.

Having opted to spend Inauguration Day at his home in La Jolla, Calif., on Monday, Romney became the first presidential nominee since Michael Dukakis in 1989 to not attend the ceremonial event. But he's made at least one appearance in the nation's capital since the election: Several weeks following his loss, he enjoyed a lunch of white turkey chili with President Obama at the White House.

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Clinton on Benghazi: Afghanistan Diverted Resources

House Republicans slammed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today for her lack of awareness of State Department cables warning of security threats in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the Sept. 11 attack that killed four Americans, including Amb. Chris Stevens.

In the second congressional hearing of the day reviewing a report by the Accountability Review Board on the State Department's security failures, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asked Clinton this afternoon why her office had not responded to a notification from Stevens about potential dangers in Libya.

"Congressman, that cable did not come to my attention," Clinton calmly told the House Foreign Affairs Committee hours after her Senate testimony this morning. "I'm not aware of anyone within my office, within the secretary's office having seen that cable."

She added that "1.43 million cables come to my office. They're all addressed to me."

Hillary Clinton's Fiery Moment at Benghazi Hearing

Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., asked Clinton whether she thought that signaled the need for a shifting of priorities to make sure she is notified about these kinds of threats in the future.

"That's exactly what I'm intent on doing," Clinton said. "We have work to do. We have work to do inside the department. We have work to do with our partners in DOD and the intelligence community."

Such answers failed to appease members like Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., who accused Clinton of letting "the consulate become a death trap."

Clinton also told the House committee that an emphasis on security in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade diverted resources from other outposts around the world.

She told Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., that legislation he championed reorganizing the State Department in the 19990s had "been very important in protecting our people around the world," but that the need for funding was ongoing and unmet.

Clinton reprised her role as defender of the State Department this afternoon in the second half of congressional testimony on the security failures that led to the deaths of Stevens and the other Americans.

Stevens understood the significance of the mission, she told the committee several hours after a morning Senate appearance.

"That's why Chris Stevens went to Benghazi in the first place," she said. "Nobody knew the dangers better than Chris, first during the revolution and then during the transition. A weak Libyan government, marauding militias, even terrorist groups … a bomb exploded in the parking lot of his hotel. He never wavered. He never asked to come home. He never said let's shut it down, quit, go somewhere else."

Representatives repeatedly asked about U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's assertion on Sunday morning talk shows in September that the attack was fueled by outrage over a video attacking Islam.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Clinton's response was to refer to the ARB report, which said the motivations behind the attack were complicated and still not all known. She maintained that Rice was speaking based upon talking points given to her by the intelligence community.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., asked why the secretary of state herself did not appear in Rice's place to give those televised explanations to the country.

"Well, I have to confess here in public [that] going on the Sunday shows is not my favorite thing to do. There are other things that I prefer to do on Sunday mornings," Clinton replied. "And I did feel strongly that we had a lot that we had to manage, that I had to respond to. And I thought that should be my priority."

The afternoon appearance followed morning testimony from an energized Clinton, who stood her ground and told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she has overseen plans to secure diplomatic outposts around the world while cuts in State Department funding undermine those efforts.

Citing a report by the department's Accountability Review Board on the security failures that led to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, during an attack last year, Clinton said the board is pushing for an increase in funding to facilities of more than $2 billion per year.

"Consistent shortfalls have required the department to prioritize available funding out of security accounts," Clinton told the Senate this morning, while again taking responsibility for the Benghazi attack. "And I will be the first to say that the prioritization process was at times imperfect, but as the ARB said, the funds provided were inadequate. So we need to work together to overcome that."

Clinton, showing little effect from her recent illnesses, choked up earlier in discussing the Benghazi attack.

"I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews," Clinton said this morning, her voice growing hoarse with emotion. "I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters."

The outgoing secretary of state was the only witness to giving long-awaited testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee this morning, and appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at 2 p.m.

The secretary, who postponed her testimony in December, started today by giving context to the terrorist attack.

"Any clear-eyed examination of this matter must begin with this sobering fact," Clinton began. "Since 1988, there have been 19 Accountability Review Boards investigating attacks on American diplomats and their facilities."

But the secretary did not deny her role in the failures, saying that as secretary of state, she has "no higher priority and no greater responsibility" than protecting American diplomats abroad like those killed in Benghazi.

"As I have said many times, I take responsibility, and nobody is more committed to getting this right," Clinton said. "I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger and more secure."

Among the steps Clinton has taken, she said, is to "elevate the discussion and the decision-making to make sure there's not any" suggestions that get missed, as there were in this case.

Clinton testified that the United States needs to be able to "chew gum and walk at the same time," working to shore up its fiscal situation while also strengthening security, and she refuted the idea that across-the-board cuts slated to take place in March, commonly referred to as sequestration, were the way to do that.

"Now sequestration will be very damaging to the State Department and USAID if it does come to pass, because it throws the baby out with the bath," Clinton said, referring to the United States Agency for International Development, which administers civilian foreign aid.

While the State Department does need to make cuts in certain areas, "there are also a lot of very essential programs … that we can't afford to cut more of," she added.

More than four months have passed since the attack killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya. These meetings, during which Clinton discussed the report on State Department security failures by the Accountability Review Board, were postponed because of her recent illness.

Clinton told the Senate that the State Department is on track to have 85 percent of action items based on the recommendations in the ARB report accomplished by March, with some already implemented.

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MIT website hacked in tribute to Aaron Swartz

Hal Hodson, technology reporter

A tribute to internet activist Aaron Swartz replaced the homepage for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today, in an apparent act of protest over the university's role in the legal case that led up to Swartz's suicide on 11 Jan.

For a short time, visitors to the MIT.edu home page found a message that read: "R.I.P. Aaron Swartz. Hacked by grand wizard of Lulzsec, Sabu. God Bless America. Down With Anonymous." The background was watermarked with words from a blog post, written by Swartz, titled "Immoral".

Attributing the defacement to "grand wizard of Lulzsec, Sabu" lent the page a sarcastic air, as it's widely known that the former Lulzsec leader was outed as an FBI informant last year.

The attack on MIT's website came amid widespread criticism of how the university handled the case against Swartz, including an article in The New York Times that quoted Swartz's father as saying: "We don't believe [MIT] acted in a neutral way. My belief is they put their institutional concerns first."

According to MIT's service status page, network service was restored within the university as of 1:30 pm EST. The university had not yet returned New Scientist's request for comment when this story was published.

This is the second time since Swartz' death that the MIT site has been the target of attacks. Previously, an MIT sub-domain was replaced with a manifesto for reform of computer and copyright laws. The authors claimed to be operating as a part of the online activist group, Anonymous.

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British PM to offer "in-or-out" referendum on EU

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron will on Wednesday propose holding a referendum after 2015 giving British people the choice of staying in or leaving the European Union.

Cameron will say in a long-awaited speech in London that he wants to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership because "public disillusionment with the EU is at an all-time high", and then put the new terms to the people.

According to pre-released excerpts, Cameron will say his Conservative party will make the pledge in its campaign for the general election scheduled to take place in two years' time.

"The next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next parliament," the speech says.

"And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in-or-out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms, or come out altogether. It will be an in-out referendum."

If a Conservative government wins outright victory, a referendum would be held in the first half of the next parliament, he adds.

Cameron will say he believes a referendum on British membership of the 27-nation bloc is necessary because in its current form the EU is intruding into British life.

"People feel the EU is heading in a direction they never signed up to. They resent the interference in our national life by what they see as unnecessary rules and regulation. And they wonder what the point of it all is," he will say.

Cameron had been due to give the speech in Amsterdam last Friday but postponed it because of the Algeria gas plant hostage crisis.

In the re-scheduled speech, Cameron says he understands the "impatience" of those who want to hold a referendum immediately, but insists the time is not right.

"I don't believe that to make a decision at this moment is the right way forward, either for Britain or for Europe as a whole," it says.

"A vote today between the status quo and leaving would be an entirely false choice."

Explaining why he wants to wait, Cameron will say the eurozone crisis will leave the EU transformed "perhaps beyond recognition" and that Britain wants to help shape the future of the bloc that emerges from it.

Cameron has faced pressure from the eurosceptic rightwing of the Conservative Party to take a stand on Europe, an issue that has long divided the party.

But his insistence on holding a referendum with a stark in-or-out choice will anger many of Britain's fellow EU member states, as well as his coalition government partners, the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats.

It will also dismay many business leaders and the opposition Labour party, who have warned Cameron that to offer the possibility of a referendum risks creating uncertainty and will lead Britain to the edge of an "economic cliff".

Cameron has also faced warnings from Britain's close ally the United States against isolating the country from the EU.

The speech has been delayed a number of times.

Plans to give it first emerged six months ago, and there was talk that Cameron might deliver it at the Conservative party's annual conference in October, followed by reports that he would give it at Christmas.

The speech was then widely expected on January 22, but Cameron moved it forward when it emerged that it clashed with commemorations for the 50th anniversary of Franco-German reconciliation following World War II.

Then the Algeria crisis intervened to force another change of plans.

- AFP/al

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Evidence shows bold L.A. priest abuse cover-up

(CBS News) LOS ANGELES - There is new evidence that leaders of the Catholic Church in Los Angeles maneuvered secretly to shield priests accused of sexually abusing children.

Documents just released indicate they never told parishioners -- or the police -- what they knew.

"What we're seeing in these files is but a glimpse into a very, very dark, and endless tunnel of secrecy, of abuse, of silence," said Raymond Boucher, a former altar boy and current lead attorney, representing some 500 victims of sex abuse by priests in the archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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Raymond Boucher

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The documents offer the strongest evidence yet of a cover-up that reached to the very top of Los Angeles clergy: Then-archbishop, now-retired Cardinal Roger Mahony.

"That has always been paramount for the church for decades: Protect itself from scandal," Boucher said.

Many of the documents are correspondence between Mahony and Monsignor Thomas Curry, his chief adviser on sex abuse. One concerns whether to allow Monsignor Peter Garcia to return to his duties in L.A. He had secretly been sent away for treatment in New Mexico for sexually abusing as many as 17 youngsters.

No one in the church hierarchy alerted authorities.

Mahony wrote on July 22, 1986: "I believe if Monsignor Garcia were to reappear here within the archdiocese we might very well have some type of legal action filed in both the criminal and civil sectors. Signed, sincerely yours in Christ, most reverend Roger Mahony."

Monsignor Curry concurred: "There are numerous - maybe 20 - adolescents or young adults that Peter Garcia was involved with in a first degree felony manner. The possibility of one of these seeing him is simply too great."

Cardinal Mahony issued this statement Tuesday to the victims: "I pray for them every single day."

It ends simply: "I'm sorry."

Victims held a press conference Tuesday. Manny Vega says was abused from age 10 to 15.

"Conscious, clear decisions were made to hide these priests and move them around and never, never did they consider the well-being of the children that they destroyed and left behind," Vega said.

Monsignor Garcia has passed away, and Monsignor Curry did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News.

As many as 30,000 more documents from the archdiocese sex abuse settlement are to be released in the coming weeks.

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Teen Planned to Attack Walmart After Killing Family

The New Mexico teenager who used an assault rifle to kill his mother, father and younger siblings told police he hoped to shoot up a Walmart after the family rampage and cause "mass destruction."

Police said they are also considering charging the shooter's 12-year-old girlfriend.

According to new information released by police today, Nehemiah Griego, the 15-year-old son of an Albuquerque pastor, had plans to kill his family, his girlfriend's family, and local Walmart shoppers for weeks before he acted on the impulse on Sunday.

"Nehemiah said after killing five of his family members he reloaded the weapons so that he could drive to a populated area to murder more people," a police report from the incident stated.

"Nehemiah stated he wanted to shoot people at random and eventually be killed while exchanging gunfire with law enforcement," the report said.

The shooting spree began shortly around 1 a.m. on Sunday, when Griego snuck into his parents' bedroom while his mother, Sara Griego, was asleep. There he raided the closet where the family kept their guns, and immediately used a .22 rifle to kill her, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department.

Griego's 9-year-old brother was sleeping with his mother at the time and woke up. When Griego told the boy his mother was dead, the youngster didn't believe him, according to a police report.

"So Nehemiah picked up his mother's head to show his brother her bloody face," the report states. "Nehemiah stated his brother became so upset so he shot his brother in the head."

Susan Montoya Bryan/AP Photo

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He then went into his sisters' bedroom. "Nehemiah stated when he entered he noticed that his sisters were crying and he shot them in the head," the police report states. The girls were 5 and 2 years old.

The teenager waited for his father to come from his overnight shift working at a nearby rescue mission. When his father, Greg Griego, walked into the home around 5 a.m., unaware of what had taken place, Griego shot him multiple times with the AR-15 rifle, Sheriff Dan Houston said today.

Greg Griego was a former church pastor at Calvary Church in Albuquerque, and worked as a chaplain at a local jail where he counseled convicts. The family was very involved in the church, according to its website.

The complaint said Griego took a photo of his dead mother and "sent it to his girlfriend."

Griego then packed up the guns, including two shotguns, as well as ammunition for the rifles, and planned to drive to a Walmart to shoot additional people.

Houston said today that Griego called his 12-year-old girlfriend Sunday and ended up spending the entire day with her rather than going to the Walmart. Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, the pair drove to Calvary Church, and Griego said his family had died in a car crash. Someone on the church's staff then called 911, Houston said.

"At this time, Nehemiah had been contemplating this for some time. The information that Nehemiah had contemplated going to the local Walmart and participating in a shooting in there is accurate," Houston said. "There is no information at all that he went to church to cause anyone bodily harm there. The suspect also contemplated killing his girlfriend's parents."

The girlfriend's name was not released, but police are investigating whether to press any charges against her, Houston said. Houston said she had some knowledge about the deaths during the day Sunday.

Griego told cops he sent a picture of his dead mother to his girlfriend after the murder.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Griego home around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday and arrived 10 minutes later, where they found the five bodies.

Griego lied to investigators about the attack, telling them he came home around 5 a.m. that morning and found his family dead. He said he then took the guns to protect himself.

Griego quickly admitted to the crime when pressed by police, telling investigators he was "frustrated" with his mother. Deputies said he was "unemotional" and "very stern" during the confession.

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Today at New Scientist: 21 January 2013

Twitter reveals how Higgs gossip reached fever pitch

Anyone who fondly remembers the heady days of excitement preceding the Higgs boson announcement last year can now relive the experience

Vibrating navigator shows cyclists the way

A buzzing GPS-fuelled belt that tells cyclists when to turn might help them keep their eyes on the road and save lives

Call off the pregnancy police - women want the truth

Pregnant women can do without being made to feel guilty and burdened by wrong or contradictory advice. Just give them the facts, says Linda Geddes

Supernova-powered bow shock creates cosmic spectacle

The infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows how a massive speeding star is electrifying its surroundings

First video of squid sex reveals deep-sea Kama Sutra

Watch a pair of squid caught in the act for the first time in an unexpected sexual position

Let's be clear on health risks from radiation

Should Californians have had iodine after Fukushima? In Radiation Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax clear up the confusion over radiation and health

Wind power delivers too much to ignore

Although aesthetic concerns need to be heard, qualms about wind's reliability are wide of the mark, argues an energy policy researcher

Quadruple DNA helix discovered in human cells

The classic double helix has been joined by a four-stranded version that may play a role in cancer

Turn up the bass to scare birds away from planes

Subwoofers that blast out sounds too low to be heard by humans can keep birds out of busy air space, and prevent them colliding with planes

Earth may be crashing through dark matter walls

If the universe is a patchwork quilt of exotic force fields, we should be able to detect dark matter whenever we cross between patches

Blinded by sun? Let your steering wheel guide you

A steering wheel that buzzes when drivers are dazzled by bright lights and drift from their lane could help curb accidents

NASA planet-hunter is injured and resting

The Kepler space telescope has put its search for alien Earths on hold while it recovers from a stressed reaction wheel

High-tech Dreamliner's wings clipped by battery trouble

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is replete with cutting-edge technology. But problems with its complex systems now have the planes grounded around the world

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New Medifund Junior scheme set up

SINGAPORE: The Health Ministry will pump in an additional S$10 million over the next five years to help needy children with healthcare costs under a new scheme called Medifund Junior.

Children below 18 will be able to tap into this fund to help defray their healthcare costs.

With this new fund, there will now be a dedicated source of financial assistance for bills incurred by sick children from needy families.

The fund will also help defray costs for needy children diagnosed with congenital or neonatal conditions before 1 March 2013.

The government will also set up a Medisave account and deposit a one-off Medisave grant of S$3,000 over two tranches for all Singapore citizens born on or after 26 August 2012.

The move is to support Singaporean families in retaining continuous MediShield protection for their newborns.

- CNA/al

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