■ Venezuela
Cake implicated in escape
Police arrested 29 people, including 11 jail guards, and were investigating whether a cake laced with sleeping drugs may have helped a former opposition governor escape prison over the weekend. Eduardo Lapi, ex-governor of Yaracuy state, was reported missing by prison authorities early on Sunday from the San Felipe jail some 350km east of the capital of Caracas, where he was being held on corruption charges. Yaracuy Security Secretary Oscar Baquero told the state news agency on Monday that police are investigating whether a cake smuggled into the jail by family members may have contained sleeping drugs to keep guards from preventing his escape.
■ UNITED STATES
DNA evidence clears `rapist'
A schizophrenic who spent 22 years in prison for rape and was denied parole five times has been cleared by DNA evidence. A judge threw out Anthony Capozzi's two 1987 rape convictions after DNA linked the crimes to another man. Capozzi, 50, is expected to be freed later this week. Though his attorney, parents and other relatives have never doubted Capozzi's innocence, it was the recent arrest of a suspect in a 25-year string of rapes and murders that ultimately proved them right.
■ UNITED STATES
Criminal charges not filed
Prosecutors said on Monday they will not file criminal charges in the death of a 28-year-old woman who participated in a radio station's water-drinking contest. The district attorney's office said the behavior of staff at station KDND-FM did not rise to the level of criminal activity. "There were no observable indications or symptoms that Jennifer Strange was experiencing a serious medical emergency which would have required station employees to seek or administer medical aid to her," the district attorney's office said in a statement. Strange died on Jan. 12 after taking part in an on-air contest to see which contestant could drink the most water without having to go to the restroom.
■ UNITED STATES
Grisly murder trial opens
Jealousy drove a woman to kill her lover's friend, dismember her body with a chainsaw and burn it, a prosecutor said on Monday at the opening of South Dakota's first death penalty trial against a woman. Daphne Wright, 43, is charged with kidnapping and murdering Darlene VanderGiesen whose bone fragments were found in the basement of Wright's home in Sioux Falls. Wright became upset when her friend, Sallie Collins, befriended VanderGiesen, 42, prosecutor Dave Nelson told jurors. ``The reason for this murder? Jealousy,'' he said. "In her words, she felt Darlene was trying to destroy her relationship with Sallie," Nelson said. "There was no romantic relationship between Darlene and Sallie. They were friends." Wright was arrested 10 days after VanderGiesen disappeared on Feb. 1, last year.
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