Mafia Boss Hangs Himself in Prison After Arrest

One of the Mafia bosses and clan members arrested in a major police crackdown hung himself in his prison cell in Palermo, Italy, just hours after his arrest Tuesday.

Gaetano Lo Presti, 52, who had taken over control of Mafia clans in the Porta Nuova area of Palermo and had previous convictions, was found dead in Pagliarelli prison, police said Wednesday.

Authorities had ordered the sweeping raids to prevent what they said were mob efforts to rebuild Cosa Nostra. Some 90 suspects were arrested in the blitz.

His suicide appeared to be related to clan feuds. Lo Presti took over the Porta Nuova district only a year ago, after the murder of a rival boss, Niccolo Ingarao.

In addition, investigators said Lo Presti may have feared a revenge attack after his intercepted telephone calls were used as evidence by anti-Mafia police to track down Giuseppe Salvatore Riina, son of the imprisoned Cosa Nostra Godfather, Toto Riina. Giuseppe Riina is serving a 14-year sentence for Mafia association, extortion and money laundering. more

Little Adolf Hitler Campbell denied a Birthday cake

EASTON, Pa. — The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child's full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance.

Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah, are upset not only with the decision made by the nearby ShopRite, but also with an outpouring of angry Internet postings in response to a local newspaper article about the cake.

Heath Campbell, who is 35, said in an interview Tuesday that people should look forward, not back, and accept change.

"They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what [Hitler] did," he said. more

Child Writes to Santa, Asks for Molestation to End

PHARR, Texas — A 9-year-old girl's letter to Santa Claus asking that a relative stop touching her and her sister has led to the arrest of a 55-year-old Pharr man on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, according to a newspaper report.

Andres Enrique Cantu, 55, of Pharr, remained in the Hidalgo County Jail Monday night after his arrest Friday. His bond was set at $100,000. It wasn't immediately clear if Cantu had an attorney.

The girl wrote the letter Thursday and turned it in at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, The (McAllen) Monitor reported. It wasn't clear whether the letter was for a school assignment.

Read a copy of the police complaint at the Smoking Gun.

A probable cause complaint said a counselor at the school reported that the student turned in a wish list to Santa asking that the relative stop touching her and her sister. A day later she was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center in Edinburg, which works with abused children, and told authorities about the alleged molestation. Police investigators believe the molestation occurred over a four-year period, according to the complaint. more

22 year old case of Adam Walsh finally has been closed

Hollywood, Fla., Police Chief Chad Wagner announced Tuesday that the department had concluded that Ottis Toole, a serial killer who died in jail in 1996, was the man who kidnapped and decapitated the young boy.

The announcement brought to a close a case that had angered the Walsh family for more than two decades, inspired the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and triggered changes in how authorities search for missing children.

"Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday's news conference. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know." more

Boy rescued from airtight bank safe

A dramatic battle to free a trapped eight-year-old Turkish boy from an airtight bank safe has been captured on camera.

Watched by scores of onlookers, fire officers in Istanbul used a sledgehammer and electric saw to free Cihan Sevinc.

The youngster had found the disused unit while playing in a footpath in Istanbul with friends. It had been left outside a safe shop, whose owner was away on holiday.

Unaware of the danger it posed Cihan climbed into the safe, his companions shutting the door behind him as a joke. One alarmed passer by who saw what had happened called the fire brigade. "I saw the children playing. Then they put the boy in the vault and closed the door. I rushed and called the police," the witness said.

To see video of rescue.

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