News of the Day From Across the Nation
1 Al Qaeda plot: A judge again rejected a request from a northern Virginia man who sought to overturn his life sentence for joining al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted in 2005. He filed a motion seeking a new sentence, arguing that the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi shows Saudi Arabia lies about the brutality of its security forces. Key evidence against Abu Ali came from a confession he gave while in Saudi custody. District Judge Rossie Alston in Alexandria said the Khashoggi killing does not give Abu Ali an opportunity to re-litigate the issue.
2 Cold case: A judge ruled that an 83-year-old man charged with killing a camping couple in a Wisconsin park in 1976 is not mentally competent to stand trial. During a hearing this week in Marinette County court, Judge James Morrison ruled that Raymand Vannieuwenhoven did not understand the proceedings and could not assist in his own defense against two counts of first-degree murder. He ordered the defendant to undergo inpatient treatment and scheduled a status review of the case for June. Vannieuwenhoven was arrested in the long-unsolved fatal shootings of 25-year-old David Schuldes and 24-year-old Ellen Matheys in McClintock Park in Silver Cliff, about 200 miles north of Milwaukee.
3 Pelosi threatened: A Texas man faces federal charges after he made online posts threatening Democrats, including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, authorities said. Gavin Weslee Blake Perry, 27, of Wichita Falls, was charged this week with transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce. According to federal prosecutors, Perry wrote on Facebook that Democrats, including Pelosi, “will be removed at any cost necessary and yes that means by death.” If...