(AP) — A man convicted of killing a husband and wife and their 7-year-old son will avoid the death penalty.

A panel of three judges decided Monday 38-year-old Jose Oliveira-Coutinho should be sentenced to life in prison for his role in the slayings.

Oliveira-Coutinho was one of three Brazilian men charged with killing Vanderlei Szczepanik, his wife, Jacqueline, and their son, Christopher. Oliveira-Coutinho was convicted last year of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft.

The family was last seen in December 2009.

Prosecutors have said Oliveira-Coutinho and two other Brazilians — Valdeir Goncalves-Santos and Elias Lourenco-Batista — beat Vanderlei Szczepanik to death and hanged his wife and son before throwing the bodies in the Missouri River.

The boy’s body was recovered in 2011.

(AP) — Officials have released the name of a 24-year-old man whose body was recovered from an eastern Nebraska lake.

The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Samuel Hernandez-Lopez, of Schuyler.

Authorities were called to Victory Lake at the Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area a little before 6 p.m. Sunday.

Witnesses say the man had gone into the water with some other people and was about 30 feet from shore when he went under. Dodge County Sheriff Steve Hespen says the people he was with tried to find him and then called 911.

The Fremont dive team recovered the body in 10-12 feet of water around 6:30 p.m.

(AP) — Three same-sex couples plan to sue Nebraska because they say the state won’t allow them to become foster parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to hold a news conference Tuesday morning to discuss the lawsuit it plans to file on behalf of the gay and lesbian couples.

Tyler Richard with ACLU Nebraska declined to discuss details of the case before the news conference.

Officials with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services didn’t immediately respond Monday to questions about foster care rules.

(AP) — Nebraska health officials have revoked the license of a child care facility in Papillion after an inspector determined several emergency violations.

The state Department of Health and Human Services closed World R Us after an inspector recently deemed it unsafe and unsanitary.

Health officials say there were no proper job qualifications available for the majority of the employees working at the 24-hour facility, which takes care of up to 130 children. Only the director had been checked against the state’s sex offender registry.

The state inspector says the facility had no hot water, an inoperable fire alarm system and other unsafe conditions.

World R Us has 15 days to appeal the decision. A message left for the business was not immediately returned Monday.

(AP) — Relatives of an Ohio couple who died at a nursing home 11 hours apart on the same day say their love story’s ending reflects their devotion over 65 years of marriage.

The Dayton Daily News reports that Harold and Ruth Knapke died in their shared room Aug. 11, days before their 66th anniversary.

Their daughters say they believe their father willed himself to stay with his wife despite failing health until they could take the next step in their journey together. He went first; she followed.

They had a joint funeral Mass, with granddaughters carrying Ruth’s casket and grandsons carrying Harold’s casket. The cemetery procession stopped at the farm house where the couple had raised six children. The current owners surprised the family by flying a flag at half-staff.

(AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man who died in a crash during a police chase in southeast Nebraska.

Gage County Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustanson said the man has been identified as 44-year-old Jerry Wissler, of Peru.

Beatrice police say they first received a call about a car weaving in and out of traffic around 1 p.m. Saturday. The car took off when officers tried to pull it over.

The chase ended about five miles south of the city when the car plunged off a bridge and flipped onto its top, killing the driver.

Wissler was alone in the car.

A 31-year-old Lincoln man has been given 20 to 40 months in prison in a York case involving checks stolen years ago.

According to Court records, Joshua Fehlman had pleaded no contest after York County prosecutors lowered the theft charge to a lesser felony. Fehlman was sentenced last week. The judge said the sentence will be served at the same time as Fehlman’s other sentence. Fehlman has been serving two to three years for being a felon in possession of a gun.

Court documents say that in October 2011 a local bank discovered three false deposits of checks made out to Fehlman. The checks totaled $1,700 and had been written on an account that had been closed for seven years.

(AP) — The science of regenerative medicine is the focus of the next Omaha Science Café.

The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.

The speaker will be Iqbal Ahmad, who is a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He will discuss the promise and limitations of regenerative medicine, particularly how it relates to eye disease.

Pizza will be provided by The Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures.

Science Cafés involve a face-to-face conversation with a scientist about current science topics. They are open to people 21 and older.

 

(AP) — A 45-year-old Omaha man has been sentenced to three years of probation for a misdemeanor conviction of assault, resisting or impeding a federal officer.

Walter Trizila was sentenced Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Nebraska says IRS officers were trying to seize a dump truck owned by Trizila’s employer on Nov. 8 when Trizila entered jumped into a front-loader, scooped a full load of dirt into the bucket and drove directly at the IRS officers.

Authorities say Trizila nearly hit one of the officers before dumping the entire load of dirt at their feet, blocking their attempts to take the truck.

(AP) — Officials say a driver being chased by Beatrice police has died in a crash.

Police Sgt. Brian Carver tells Beatrice said police first received a call about a car weaving in and out of traffic around 1 p.m. Saturday. Carver says the car took off when police tried to pull the driver over.

The chase ended about five miles south of the city when the car plunged off a bridge and flipped onto its top, killing the man driving.

Police have not yet released the man’s identity. No one else was in the crashed car, and no one was injured during the pursuit.

Nebraska law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or being pursued by police.