La. inmates sentenced to life in 2011 kidnapping

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two Louisiana inmates were sentenced to life in prison on Thursday in the kidnapping death of an Ohio businessman abducted from a hotel in Mississippi during a 2011 crime spree.

Darian Pierce and Ricky Wedgeworth both apologized to the family of David Cupps during the sentencing hearings in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss., as some of the victim's relatives wiped away tears.

Authorities say the inmates worked as groundskeepers at the Louisiana State Police compound in Baton Rouge, La., when they stole a van and drove away on March 4, 2011.

Cupps, a 53-year-old from Sunbury, Ohio, disappeared a few days later from a hotel in Vicksburg, Miss., where he was staying while in town to inspect the Grand Gulf nuclear plant.

His body was found at a hotel in Bessemer, Ala. He had been beaten and strangled.

At the time of the escape, Wedgeworth was in prison for armed robbery and was set to be released in 2023. Pierce was locked up for attempted second-degree murder and was scheduled for release in 2024.

Wedgeworth was sentenced first on the kidnapping charge and several members of Cupps family spoke to the court or provided letters to be read during the hearing.

David Cupps relatives said he has had five grandchildren born since his death and that those kids were robbed of their chance to know him.

"They will never get to experience his love," David Cupps' sister-in-law, Diane Cupps, told the court. Cupps also had several other grandchildren who were born before his death.

Cupps was described as a loving father, grandfather, sibling and uncle. He liked working on cars, and Diane Cupps said she even misses "the click of his cowboy boots in the shop."

Cupps' daughter, Valerie Click, said in a letter read in court that she is married to a soldier and agonizes every time he goes out of town because she is haunted by the way her father was killed while away on a business trip.

She recalled going into a car parts store to buy brakes a few days after Cupps' death. Her father had been planning to change her brakes for her. When the clerk asked what kind of brakes she needed, Click instinctively called her father to ask him, then broke into tears at the realization that he couldn't answer.

She said the inmates imposed a life sentenced on her family and her 5-year-old son still asks about his grandfather.

"When I found out my Dad had been killed, it was like being stabbed in the heart," the letter said.

Wedgeworth, who has a teardrop tattoo near his right eye, said he accepted responsibility and wanted a life sentence.

"I've been in prison a very long time and it's hardened my heart. I was raised with a good heart," Wedgeworth said.

Wedgeworth, who paused to take deep breaths and used the occasional expletive, told Cupps' family that a death sentence would have been preferable to life in prison, "if that helps you."

Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty in the case.

Pierce, who has the name "Drake" tattooed on the back of his neck and wore a short goatee, said a prayer and expressed hope that the family can forgive him someday.

"I just hope God blesses y'all's lives and gives y'all comfort," Pierce said.

He also said that he realizes the biggest question the family has is "why."

"The truth is, selfishness is the reason why. I was worried about what I wanted. I didn't care about anyone else," Pierce said.

Authorities said Cupps was abducted for his rental car, a red Buick Enclave. After dumping his body, the inmates drove to Georgia and then to Tennessee.

A Tennessee officer pulled the Buick over on March 8, 2011, but the inmates ran. They tied up a Madison County, Tenn., parks worker a few days later and stole a truck with markings for the county's parks department, authorities say.

Police in Olive Branch, Miss., spotted the men March 14, 2011, and pursued them back into Tennessee, where the inmates were arrested after wrecking in Memphis.

Authorities have said Wedgeworth is from Memphis, Tenn. Pierce is from Bogalusa, La.

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Former Army soldier sentenced for killing wife, baby

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - A former Army soldier who was convicted of killing his wife and baby daughter shortly after returning from combat in Afghanistan was sentenced on Friday to 80 years in prison for the crimes.

Kip Lynch, 22, was found guilty last summer of first degree murder in the April 2010 shooting death of his 19-year-old wife Racquell and second-degree murder of their 8-month old baby, Kyirsta.

Lynch shot his wife numerous times in the back, head and neck while she was holding their infant daughter, according to police reports.

The bullets passed through her body, killing both mother and child, according to police reports. Lynch then turned the gun on himself in an apparent suicide attempt, but survived.

The bodies of his wife and baby remained in the family's Anchorage apartment for a weekend before they were discovered.

Lynch was found in critical condition but recovered.

At the two-day sentencing hearing at a state superior court, Lynch's public defender said the former soldier had served valiantly in combat but struggled with post traumatic stress upon returning home.

Lynch was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage at the time of the incident, which occurred just two months after he returned from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan.

Judge Michael Spaan, who imposed the sentence, concluded that Lynch's combat experience affected the former military policeman's actions.

"I believe that Mr. Lynch's service in Afghanistan was a factor," Spaan said.

But Spaan said it was unclear whether the shooting was a direct result of war-related mental problems.

"I don't even know if you had post traumatic stress, if you're still suffering from it, and what impact this might have in 20 years. The science is not exact enough to answer these questions," the judge told Lynch at sentencing.

The mother of Racquell Lynch testified by telephone at the hearing, asking for a harsh sentence.

"I accept full responsibility for what happened to my wife and daughter," Lynch said in court, reading from a statement of apology. "They will forever be in my heart."

The maximum penalty that could have been imposed on Lynch was 198 years, 99 years for each murder, under Alaska law.

(Editing by Mary Slosson and Peter Bohan)

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Jaycee Dugard kidnappers sentenced

Phillip and Nancy Garrido abducted Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 years old.Dugard's statement to court calls the Garridos "evil"Dugard calls her 18 years of captivity a "sexual perversion" forced on herThe married couple pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual assault in April

(CNN) -- Phillip Garrido was sentenced Thursday to 431 years to life in prison in the kidnapping and sexual assault of Jaycee Dugard, who was held captive from age 11 to 29 by Garrido and his wife, according to the El Dorado County, California, district attorney's office.

His wife, Nancy Garrido, 55, was sentenced earlier in the day to 36 years to life in prison for her role in the abduction and rape, said Garrido's attorney, Stephen Tapson.

Dugard didn't appear in court Thursday for the sentencings, but she submitted an emotional statement that was presented by her mother, according to Dugard's media representative, Nancy Seltzer.

Jaycee Dugard, now 31, called the Garridos "evil" and described their captivity of her as a "sexual perversion" forced upon her for 18 years.

A statement by Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, was also read in court.

The Garridos, a married couple, pleaded guilty in late April in El Dorado County Superior Court to charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

Dugard was abducted from the street in front of her home in South Lake Tahoe, California, in 1991. Authorities found her in 2009. During those years, the Garridos held Dugard in a hidden compound on their home's grounds in Antioch, California. She bore two daughters, fathered by Phillip Garrido.

Dugard's written statement, presented during Phillip Garrido's sentencing, was lengthy.

"I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence. I've chosen to have my mom read this for me," Dugard wrote.

"Phillip Garrido, you are wrong. I could never say that to you before, but I have the freedom now and I am saying you are a liar and all of your so-called theories are wrong. Everything you have ever done to me has been wrong and someday I hope you can see that.

"What you and Nancy did was reprehensible. You always justified everything to suit yourself but the reality is and always has been that to make someone else suffer for your inability to control yourself and for you, Nancy, to facilitate his behavior and trick young girls for his pleasure is evil. There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions," Dugard said.

"To you, Phillip, I say that I have always been a thing for your own amusement. I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you and the sexual perversion you forced on me," she continued.

"To you, Nancy, I have nothing to say.

"Both of you can save your apologies and empty words. For all the crimes you have both committed I hope you have as many sleepless nights as I did.

"Yes, as I think of all of those years I am angry because you stole my life and that of my family. Thankfully I am doing well now and no longer live in a nightmare. I have wonderful friends and family around me. Something you can never take from me again. You do not matter any more," Dugard wrote.

In her own statement to the court, Dugard's mother recounted June 10, 1991, the day her daughter was abducted.

"I begged, I pleaded, I cried, I ranted and raved, I went crazy and thought I was going to go insane," Probyn said in her statement. "My baby was gone and all of my dreams turned to nightmares. Dreadful nightmarish thoughts of her bondage and of her suffering.

"For 18 excruciating years, I endured a huge gaping hole in my heart that some evil being had put their hand into and had ripped out. For 18 agonizing years, I guarded what little I had left and lived in hell on this earth," Probyn wrote.

The mother condemned the Garridos.

"I hate you both for the torment and anguish you put my daughter, myself, and my family through. I am nauseous at the thought of the sexual exploitation and the brutal abuse she endured at your uncaring hand. I am sickened by the reality that she had to suffer your cruel and heartless imprisonment for so long. You are the epitome of disgust and no amount of jail time or even death will cleanse your corrupt souls. You do not deserve to live or die or even exist," Probyn's statement said.

"You are nothing...other than selfish, self serving, self gratifying monsters," the mother said. She added that the Garridos will never see Jaycee Dugard's two daughters again.

"Her daughters know what you did to their mother. They realize your backyard was a prison and understand your filthy, despicable secret. They are aware that they have been deceived and I am here to tell you that there is no love lost," the mother's statement to the court said.

Jaycee Dugard's maternal aunt, Tina Dugard, also provided a statement to the court in which she said her mother, Onita, died of "a broken heart" because of Jaycee Dugard's abduction.

"Jaycee was the center of my mom's world, as only a first grandchild can be. Facing life without her beloved Jaycee was more than my mom could handle. I wish she had found the strength to live for me, for my brothers and sisters, and for her other grandchildren. But she couldn't. Losing Jaycee was simply devastating, and she just couldn't recover," Tina Dugard's statement said.

Phillip Garrido was a registered sex offender on parole at the time of his arrest.

California law doesn't provide for a death penalty for the offenses committed by the Garridos, District Attorney Vern Pierson said in April.

Phillip Garrido, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and 13 counts of sexual assault, Pierson said. He has waived his right to appeal, the district attorney said.

Nancy Garrido, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of rape by force, and to California's "one strike" rape law, Pierson said.

Her sentence is the maximum possible based on the sentencing laws in effect in 1991, he said.

Nancy Garrido also has waived her right to appeal, prosecutors said. Her plea was offered contingent on Phillip Garrido pleading guilty and waiving his right to appeal, prosecutors said.

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Libya frees four sentenced journalists

Nigel Chandler, from left, Manuel Varela, James Foley and Clare Morgana Gillis arrive at Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on Wednesday.Four foreign journalists covering the Libyan conflict are released and finedMeanwhile, Tunisia condemns Libya's firing of rockets at a Tunisian border townUNICEF announces an effort to raise $20 million for Libyan women and children

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Four journalists are free weeks after they were captured by the Libyan military and then sentenced to jail for a year, a Libyan government spokesman said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Tunisian government condemned Libya's alleged continuous firing of rockets at the border town of Dhiba, a Tunisian foreign ministry source told the Tunisian News Agency.

Also, fighting resumed Wednesday between rebels and forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi at the Dhehiba/Wazen border crossing with Tunisia, according to the Tunisian state-run news agency.

Significant reinforcements joined the rebels while government troops responded with heavy artillery, the agency said.

At the same time, UNICEF announced a humanitarian campaign to raise $20 million for children and women inside Libya and for nearly 800,000 refugees who have fled to neighboring countries including Tunisia.

The freed journalists include two Americans: Clare Morgana Gillis, a freelancer for the Christian Science Monitor, the Atlantic and USA Today; and James Foley of GlobalPost. The others are Spanish photographer Manuel Varela, who also goes by the name Manu Brabo, and British journalist Nigel Chandler, Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim said a judge released the four journalists after ordering them each to pay a $164 fine for entering the country illegally. Ibrahim didn't know if the journalists had paid the fines yet.

When asked about missing South African photographer Anton Hemmerl, Ibrahim said the government isn't holding him and hasn't been able to locate him.

"We never had him with us at any stage," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim spoke with the four journalists after they arrived in the lobby of the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli and told them they are welcome to stay and work in Libya under a visa.

South Africa's ambassador to Libya was also at the hotel trying to get any information on Hemmerl.

The four freed journalists were to spend the night at the hotel Wednesday, with their rooms paid for by the Libyan government, and then be driven to the Tunisian border, Ibrahim said.

Gillis, Varela and Foley were detained by pro-government forces in early April, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Once taken to the border with Tunisia, Varela will head home to Spain, the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement.

The foreign ministry declined to give any details earlier this month about Varela's situation, due to the "discretion and prudence" that his case demands, but Spanish media reported April 24 that he talked by phone to his parents in northern Spain and told them he was safe and being treated well.

Spain still has an embassy in Tripoli, although it evacuated its personnel from the city, like many other nations, as fighting between the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and rebels intensified in late March.

When asked about journalists being mistreated while in Libyan custody since violence erupted in February, Ibrahim said all journalists were treated "fairly" and "as good as possible," but he pointed out that the country is in armed conflict, and the military didn't know for sure whether persons captured were indeed journalists.

Ibrahim added that many former military personnel from Europe are now working with the rebels.

Since February, the Committee to Protect Journalists has tallied more than 80 attacks on members of the news media in Libya, including four deaths and 49 detentions.

Human Rights Watch and CPJ have called upon the Libyan government to account for missing journalists covering the conflict there.

Meanwhile, in Tunis, the government charged that Libya's rocket-firing at Tunisia is a violation of its sovereignty and puts citizens and infrastructure at risk, even though Tripoli pledged several times not to fire in the direction of Tunisia, the foreign ministry source told the Tunisian News Agency.

The Tunisian government warned of "immediate and disastrous consequences" to bilateral relations and said the "serious" attacks are likely to force Tunis to take "severe" measures such as reporting the violations to the U.N. secretary general in order "to defend its territorial integrity," the source told the news agency.

In a related matter to Libya, UNICEF issued its appeal to raise $20 million for the Libyan crisis and said more than 1 million people may have been affected by the conflict, especially as almost 800,000 Libyans have fled to Egypt, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Tunisia, the group said in a statement Wednesday.

"Children have been deeply affected by this conflict. Their rights to learn, to play and to express themselves have been compromised. UNICEF and partners are working to support the community in their solidarity to create safe spaces for all Libyan children," Shahida Azfar, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and north Africa, said in a statement.

CNN's Michael Martinez and Al Goodman contributed to this report.

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Cops sentenced in post-Katrina killing

Greg McRae was guilty of using a fire to commit a felony -- specifically, burning this car with Henry Glover's body inside. STORY HIGHLIGHTSFormer Officer David Warren gets more than 25 yearsOfficer Greg McRae is sentenced to more than 17 years31-year-old Henry Glover was killedRELATED TOPICSNew Orleans Police DepartmentMurder and HomicideHurricane KatrinaNew Orleans (CNN) -- Two New Orleans police officers convicted last year in the killing of a man during the chaos following Hurricane Katrina were sentenced Thursday in federal court.

Former Officer David Warren got more than 25 years in prison, and current Officer Greg McRae was sentenced to more than 17 years, the Justice Department said.

A jury in December found Warren guilty of manslaughter for killing Henry Glover, 31, on September 2, 2005.

He was also found guilty of deprivation of rights under color of law -- a charge that relates to abusing one's status as a police officer while breaking the law.

Prosecutors contended that Warren fired at Glover from the police station's balcony after he allegedly saw Glover heading toward the station with something in his hand.

After Glover was shot, bystanders drove him to a nearby school looking for help. Instead, the men were allegedly beaten by police officers at the school, who then left the school with a car that had Glover's body in it.

McRae had been found guilty of using a fire to commit a felony -- specifically, burning the Chevrolet Malibu with Glover's body inside. McRae burned the car near the police station where Glover was shot, prosecutors said.

The jury also convicted him on three counts of deprivation of rights under the color of the law and found him not guilty on one such count.

Earlier this month, a federal investigation found that the New Orleans Police Department has engaged in patterns of misconduct in violation of the Constitution and federal law, the Justice Department announced.

Among the findings are that the police department has used excessive force, made unconstitutional stops and searches, and illegally profiled people based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The investigation also found a number of practices that contributed to the illegal conduct, including failed systems for recruiting and promoting officers, poor training and lack of supervision, among others.

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