MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A Norfolk man accused in the August stabbing death a neighbor at a Norfolk apartment complex has been found competent to stand trial.

48-year-old Rodolfo Castaneda-Morejon appeared in Madison County District Court on Friday for his arraignment hearing on the first-degree murder charge. The arraignment was postponed, but a judge found Castaneda-Morejon to be mentally fit enough to stand trial.

Castaneda-Morejon is accused of killing 39-year-old Yosvanis Velazquez Gomez at the complex on Aug. 25.

Court records say Castaneda-Morejon told investigators he confronted Gomez about an inappropriate text message sent to Castaneda-Morejon’s girlfriend, suspecting the two were having a secret relationship. The records also say Castaneda-Morejon acknowledged stabbing Velazquez Gomez several times.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has suspended an Omaha lawyer’s license to practice law for a year after he lied for years about checking on the welfare of an incapacitated adult.

Rodney Halstead had been appointed in 2009 to serve as guardian to the ward, who was confined to a nursing home, and was required to file annual reports on the ward’s condition. Court records say Halstead reported through 2015 that he had routinely checked on the ward’s condition.

But investigators say he hadn’t checked on the ward in years. Instead, Halstead reported all was fine at the nursing home, even though the ward had been moved from the home — unbeknownst to Halstead — in 2011.

No harm came to the ward during the six years Halstead falsified his reports.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission has collected a fine assessed in 2006 against a Bellevue city councilman who’d run unsuccessfully for the state Legislature.

Councilman Pat Shannon was fined for inaccurately reporting contributions and seven other 2004 campaign violations. The original fine was $16,000 but had grown to about $17,800 with interest. He’d unsuccessfully appealed the commission’s ruling.

Shannon’s attorney says the commission found money in an Oklahoma estate that was to be paid to Shannon. Court filings in Oklahoma show the commission filed Oct. 11 to take the money from the estate.

The commission’s Frank Daley says the estate attorney sent the commission a check to cover the fine and interest.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge in Nebraska has dismissed an indictment against a former Winnebago Tribal Council member accused of theft from the tribe’s casino in Iowa.

Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Wednesday approved in U.S. District Court in Omaha the prosecution’s motion regarding Morgan Earth. The grounds for the dismissal request have been sealed.

Earth is one of nine former council members accused of several crimes, including conspiracy to siphon more than $327,000 from the WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa. The tribe headquarters is in the town of Winnebago on the tribe’s northeast Nebraska reservation.

 

 

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say a fire at Wilderness Park Day Camp in Lincoln that broke out on Halloween was arson.

Witnesses told police a homeless person had been spotted in the building before the fire on Tuesday.

The camp supervisor says the building is a total loss.

Andrea Faas says the day camp hosts hundreds of kids every summer.

Fire Inspector Rick Campos says the fire caused about $60,000 in damage to the building and everything inside. He says the park was using the building for storage.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge has sentenced a former insurance agent to at least six years in prison for bilking clients out of nearly $160,000, saying he felt “heartsick” for the victims.

The Lancaster County judge noted on Tuesday the seriousness of a felony theft by deception charge when deciding against probation for Raymond Sanchez Jr.

Investigators allege Sanchez’s clients in Lincoln gave him money to buy annuities, but that Sanchez instead deposited the money into his personal account.

One victim says she and her husband lost more than $40,000 in the scheme. She says she’s disappointed in the sentence because she was hoping for restitution.

Sanchez says he wants to eventually pay the money back so he can face all his victims again.