OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a former top crime scene investigator serving a prison sentence for evidence tampering in a double murder case.
Former CSI chief David Kofoed had asked the state’s high court to grant him a new trial, arguing among other things that the trial court judge should have recused himself from the case. Kofoed also argued that the trial court erred in allowing evidence indicating Kofoed had tampered with DNA evidence in another case.
But the state’s high court rejected those arguments Friday.
Kofoed was sentenced to up to four years for tampering with evidence in a Cass County case in which two men were wrongly charged in the 2006 shotgun slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock of rural Murdock.

 

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a Scotts Bluff County man has died in a rollover accident near Minatare.
The sheriff’s office says 20-year-old James Booth died after losing control of his vehicle along some railroad tracks Wednesday night. Sheriff Mike Overman says the vehicle rolled several times and ended up in a ditch.
A passenger was injured.
Overman says speed and alcohol may have been factors in the crash. An autopsy is pending.

 

FRANKLIN, Neb. (AP) – Three family members have been arrested in the death of a Franklin County toddler in southern Nebraska.
The Nebraska State Patrol say 2-year-old Joseph Rinehart of Naponee died after he was taken to a hospital Monday night. The patrol say an autopsy shows he died of head and internal injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
Officials say the boy’s mother, 24-year-old Laura Rinehart, and his grandparents, Peter and Nancy Draper, were arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.
Rinehart was being held in the Phelps County jail. Peter Draper was in the Franklin County jail, while Nancy Draper was in the Hall County jail Thursday.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Prosecutors have dismissed a drug charge against a Lincoln woman arrested after she kept a prescription for painkillers mistakenly given to her by a pharmacy.
Diane Louise Meyer was arrested in February and charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Prosecutors dismissed the charge Friday after Meyer agreed to participate in a drug diversion program.
Police say when Meyer went to pick up a legitimate prescription, she was accidentally given more than 200 oxycodone pills meant for a woman with a similar name.
When the pharmacy called about the mix-up, Meyer said she had flushed the pills. But police searched her home and found them concealed in a wall.

 

HARVARD, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska high school senior is set to graduate and go to college, although he’s been listed as dead.
Corbin Russell’s education plans are on hold because credit agencies and other records show that he’s deceased.
Russell’s Social Security number was used in a death benefit claim for a man in South Carolina who died in January 2010.
Russell and his mom, Monica, say scholarship applications have been rejected because of flagged credit reports. A valid and unchallenged Social Security number is necessary to seek student loans.
Social Security administration officials say Russell is alive in their records. The three major credit reporting companies say they need documentation to clear up the problem, which has vexed the Russells for nearly two years.

 

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) – A southeast Nebraska woman has been given life plus 50 years in prison for beating her husband to death.

55-year-old Susan DeJong was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for the first-degree murder of her husband. DeJong was given 50 years for using a deadly weapon to commit a felony.

Prosecutors say 52-year-old Thomas DeJong was beaten with two hammers at the couple’s home eight miles west of Fairbury on March 11 last year. He died the next day at a Lincoln hospital.

Prosecutors say Susan DeJong became obsessed with suspicions that her husband was having an affair.

 

SHICKLEY, Neb. (AP) – Hail, high winds and a possible tornado have damaged structures and vehicles in parts of eastern Nebraska.
National Weather Service meteorologist Briona Saltzman says a house and garage were damaged about five miles southwest of Shickley in Fillmore County, reportedly by a tornado. She says the tornado report won’t be confirmed until later Thursday.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning after a funnel cloud was spotted a little before 11 p.m. Wednesday.
No injuries have been reported.
Wind gusts approaching 60 mph toppled trees in several Saline County towns.
Flash flood warnings have been posted as well. Saltzman says a rain total of almost 3 inches was recorded in Clay County, and several county roads were flooded.
Two-inch hail damaged vehicles in the south-central Nebraska city of Hastings.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A 23-year-old Lincoln woman who misused personal financial information from a student lender’s database has been given a year and a day in prison.
A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Jovita Benford was sentenced on Wednesday for unauthorized computer access. She must serve three years of supervised release when she leaves prison.
Federal prosecutors say Benford was working for the Lincoln-based student lender Nelnet when she accessed a database in October 2010 to help a borrower with his student loans. She copied his name and date of birth and those of other borrowers, then used them to try to borrow money online. She wasn’t successful.
In an unrelated state case, Benford was sentenced in November to 18 to 36 months for theft and criminal impersonation.

 

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) – A Sidney man has been given prison time for threatening his wife and having weapons.
Court records say 37-year-old Mark Allsman was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 to 36 months.
Allsman had pleaded guilty to terroristic threats and being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors dropped another weapons charge in return for Allsman’s plea.
Court documents say Allsman loaded a gun and told his wife to “keep pushing and see what happens” during an argument on Nov. 14.
The Cheyenne County Attorney’s Office says Allsman was convicted of theft in Lancaster County in 2005.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Lincoln man charged with beating his ex-girlfriend to death has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.
William Pereira was sentenced Tuesday in Lancaster County District. He pleaded no contest in March to second-degree murder.
The judge in the case said Pereira killed 19-year-old Alissa Magoon in December 2010 in a fit of jealous rage, suspecting her of seeing another man.
Prosecutors say Pereira, a 26-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, beat Magoon on the head with a piece of wood until her skull was exposed.