Friday, August 29, 1986
Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
ews oisesii
By the Associated Press
N
mill -,- I -.I in bmbimiii i n w ...
y emtencedl to
SAN FRANCISCO Jerry Whitworth
was sentenced to 305 years in prison
and fined $410,000 Thursday by a judge
who said his role in selling Navy com
munications secrets to the Soviet I'nion
made him "one of the most sped acular
spies of this century."
"I just want to say I'm very, very
sorry," was the only comment from the
47-year-old former Navy radioman as he
appeared before U.S. District Judge
John Vukasin.
Convicted on seven counts of esp
ionage as part of the Walker family spy
ring, Whitworth must serve at least 60
years before he will be eligible for
parole.
The government called him the cen
tral figure in the most damaging spy
ring in U.S. military history, and Vukasin
said he had given the Soviet Union "the
very blueprint of our most coveted and
guarded communications."
Whitworth, of Davis, Calif., was con
victed July 24 of selling to the Walkers
Doctor: Soviet nuclear accident
could claim 75,000 lives worldwide
VIENNA, Austria A Los Angeles
bone marrow surgeon who treated some
Chernobyl victims said Thursday the
accident could cause as many as 75,000
cancer deaths worldwide over the next
70 years.
Dr. Robert Gale told reporters that
most delegates to an international con
ference in Vienna agreed that as many
as 25,000 cancer deaths linked to the
Soviet nuclear plant disaster could
occur in the European part of the
Soviet Union alone.
An explosion and fire occurred April
26 at the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl
plant, 80 miles north of Kiev in the
Soviet Ukraine. Two people were killed
and at least 29 other Soviets have since
died from injuries linked to the acci
dent, which sent a radioactive cloud
Students, police clash over shootings
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -University
students threw stones Thurs
day at police and cars after leaving a
meeting held to protest the police kil
lings of 20 blacks in Soweto. The
government promised to hold a public
inquiry into the shootings.
Witnesses said police fired tear gas
when students at the University of the
Witwatersrand began throwing stones
at police vans and other vehicles and at
a police film crew. The university is
officially for whites, but many blacks
attend. Both blacks and whites were
involved in the clash.
The South African Press Association
said about 1,000 students attended the
protest meeting but only about 400
clashed with police.
The students were protesting the
police shootings of 20 blacks during
riots in the sprawling black township
of Soweto on Tuesday night and Wed
nesday morning.
The government said Thursday that
20 blacks were killed by police and
confirmed that a black Soweto counci
lor was killed by youths. It said 98 other
people were injured.
Anti-apartheid leaders, however, said
up to 30 people were killed and 200
wounded.
Deputy Information Minister Louis
Nel told a news conference that a pub
a Dailv
gprasican
Editor
Jelf Korbelik
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1938 DAILY NEBRASKAN
T T
the secrets of Navy decoding equip
ment, code keys and communications
systems he gathered and photographed
for nearly a decade as a trusted radio
operator at ship and shore stations.
He also was convict ed of tax evasion
on the $332,000 that he was paid by
John Walker Jr., his longtime friend,
former fellow radio instructor and con
fessed leader of the spy ring.
Walker was to have been sentenced
Thursday in Baltimore to two life terms
under a plea-bargain, with parole pos
sible in 10 years. But sentencing has
been delayed until Oct. 3 at the prose
cution's request.
Whitworth's lawyer, James Larson,
filed papers with Vukasin on Tuesday
urging a sentence no harsher than
Walker's. Larson said Walker was
"unquestionably. . .more culpable" than
Whitworth.
Walker pleaded guilty last October
in Baltimore and agreed to testify
over much of Europe and other parts of
the world.
He said the number of cancer deaths
worldwide as a result of th accident
could range from 1,000 to 75,000.
Gale told The Associated Press ear
lier Thurday that estimates of the
death toll from Chernobyl are "very
broad," but health experts believe "the
truth will lie between the extremes."
Gale is attending a week-long con
ference under the auspices of the
International Atomic Energy Agency
called to consider ways to improve
international cooperation in fighting
nuclear accidents. -
Speaking at a news conference on
the fourth day of the conference, Soviet
and Western delegates suggested es
lic investigation will be held and police
will be questioned. He did not set a
date for the inquiry but said, "It will
not be delayed."
Nel said the Soweto riots were part
of an organized campaign to sabotage
the 11-week-old national state of
emergency.
"It was an ambush to kill the police,"
he said. "They had to react to defend
themselves. Whether they reacted cor
rectly will be decided at the inquest."
Cult leader sentenced to life
in prison, death penalty possible
FALLS CITY, Neb. A former cult
leader on Thursday was sentenced to
life in prison for the murder of a 5-year-old
boy on the cult's farm in southeast
Nebraska.
Michael Ryan, 38, received the max
imum penalty from Richardson County
District Judge Robert Finn.
Last month, Ryan pleaded no con
test to second-degree murder in the
death of Luke Stice, whose body was
found on the cult's farm near Rulo in
1985. Ryan originally was charged with
first-degree murder in the case.
County Attorney Doug Merz said
Ryan deserved the penalty because the
victim was a little boy.
Ryan sat quietly during the 25
minute court session. He declined Finn's
offer to speak on his own behalf, but
defense attorney Richard Goos gave the
court a five-page transcript of an inter
view he conductecd with Ryan earlier
this month at the Nebraska State
Penitentiary.
Ryan told Goos that the Stice boy
was killed by his father, Richard Stice.
"I just don't think it's right for the
judge to be sentencing me when I
believe and know in my heart that. . .
Richard Stice and Richard Stice alone
killed that boy," Ryan said during the
interview.
Ryan didn't say how the boy died.
Authorities said the child hit his head
years
against Whitworth in exchange for a
reduced sentence for Walker's son,
Michael, who also pleaded guilty.
Walker's brother Arthur was convicted
of spying by a federal judge and sent
enced to life in prison.
Walker said the Soviets, satisfied
with Whitworth's work, gradually raised
his pay from $1,000 to $4,000 a month.
Walker said Whitworth photographed
with a Soviet-supplied miniature camera
such secrets as code keys, diagrams of
new decoding equipment, and broad
casting channels that military experts
said would allow the reading of all
secret messages to the Pacific fleet.
Walker said Whitworth also revealed
plans to evade Soviet direction-finding
equipment for spotting U.S. ships.
Walker said he never told Whitworth
of the Soviets' role, but instead sug
gested the secrets were being bought
by Israel, the Mafia or a private intelli
gence organization.
tablishing an international agency,
composed of civil defense and military
personnel, to pool efforts against any
future atomic accident.
"We believe that as quickly as pos
sible, a responsible and international
authority should be considered to make
available all possible resources for cor
rective action (against accidents), in
volving civil defense and the army,"
said Helmut Rabold, an East German
atomic safety official.
Rabold said the delegates, repres
enting 50 countries, also discussed
central "action offices" to test food
possibly tainted by atomic fallout. The
offices would use the expertise of the
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organiza
tion, he said.
About 50 riot police confronted the
protesting students at the University of
Witwatersrand, SAPA said.
Even the government's lower figures
made the riots the bloodiest reported
in any 24-hour period in a black town
ship since 1960.
It was the most serious outbreak of
violence since the government declared
the state of emergency June 12 and
gave police powers to arrest people
without charge.
on a piece of furniture and fractured
his skull after being pushed by Ryan.
The elder Stice was a member of the
survivalist cult led by Ryan. He was
convicted of interstate transportation
of stolen cattle, and is serving part of
his term under house arrest.
In April, Ryan was convicted of first
degree murder in the torture-slaying of
cult member James Thimm. He could
receive the death penalty when he is
sentenced for that murder next month.
Ryan is already serving a five-year pri
son term on a federal weapons convic
tion. Ryan's 16-year-old son, Dennis, and
former cult member Timothy Haver
kamp were convicted of second-degree
murder in Thimm's death and sentenced
to life in prison.
Two other former Ryan followers,
John David Andreas and James Haver
kamp, were each sentenced to 30 years
in prison for their involvement in the
torture and other crimes.
The bodies of Thimm, 26, and the
Slice boy were found in unmarked
graves on the cult's farm last August.
Authorities said Michael Ryan led a
group of about 20 adults and children
on the farm in 1984 and 1985. The group
hated Jews, believed in a god named
Yahweh and stored supplies and wea
pons to prepare for a final battle
between good and evil, prosecutors
said.
r " '
In Brief
Air Force missile destroyed
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. An unarmed intercontinen
tal ballistic missile was blown up during a test flight over the Pacific
Ocean on Thursday because of an undisclosed problem, the Air Force said.
"The destruct signal was sent well into the missile's 30 minute test
flight," said Tech Sgt. Fred Bolinger of the 1st Strategic Aerospace
Division's public affairs staff at Vandenberg.
The 78,000-pound Minutemen 3 missile, an ICBM capable of carry ing
explosives to three separate targets, lifted off from an underground silo at
7:04 a.m. for its 30-minute flight across the Pacific Ocean to the Kwajalein
Atoll, Sgt. Fred Bolinger said.
A team of Air Force and . Department of Defense contractor engineers
was investigating.
It was not immediately known how close the 60-foot-tall missile got to '
its target before the destruct command was given, the spokesman said.
Bolinger said there was no danger to anyone in the ocean area where the
rocket fell. Its altitude at the time was not disclosed.
The aborted ICBM flight comes at a time when America's space pro
gram and missile program has been plagued by failures.
- The last time a Minuteman 3 was destroyed was on Feb. 5, 1985,
Bolinger said. Since that time, there have been 10 successful Minuteman
launches. Another failure had occurred in February 1983. The cause of
, those failures was not disclosed.
One hurt in grain elevator explosion
LINCOLN Authorities were searching for the cause of a grain
elevator explosion Thursday that caused $30,000 in damage and left an
elevator worker bruised but not seriously hurt.
Fire inspector Charles Beauchamp said the early-morning blast at
Gooch Milling and Elevator Co. could have been started by a spark from a.
belt that was rubbing against a metal grain mixing leg. Beauchamp said,
however, that the belt could have been knocked askew by the explosion.
Dust in the elevator exploded about 1:15 a.mM and the blast blew out
five large block windows, Beauchamp said. Pieces of glass punctured a
roof below the eighth floor, where the explosion occurred, he said.
Employee Richard Barkmeier said he was shutting off an air hose when
a 12-foot-high metal dust collection filter exploded about 20 feet from
where he was standing.
"All of a sudden, she blew up and shoved me right up against a pillar,"
said Barkmeier, who was working alone on the floor. "I looked around and
all I could see was a ball of fire."
District Fire Chief Neil McPherson said the force of the explosion
destroyed the dust collection filter. He and Beauchamp said the force of
the explosion apparently blew out the fire before it could spread.
McPherson; surveying damage to heavy pieces of steel in the elevator, ,
said Barkmeier, 40, was lucky he wasn't killed.
Farmer charges in fatal stabbing
RUSHVILLE, Neb. A 34-year-old Hay Springs farmer has been bound
over to Sheridan County District Court for trial on charges of first-degree
murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in connection with the July
18 stabbing death of another Hay Springs man.
District Judge Glen Fiebig bound over Roger B. Rincker after a two-hour
preliminary hearing Wednesday. Rincker was charged in the death of
Bryant Ferrel, 27.
Fiebig also ordered a $100,000 bond be continued. Rincker has been
free on bond since he was charged July 21. Trial is set for Sept. 9.
Lockheed accused of inflated costs
WASHINGTON The Pentagon has accused the Lockheed Corp. of
inflating its production contract for the C-5B cargo plane by as much as
$500 million by improperly withholding financial information from the Air
Force during contract negotiations.
The allegation was disclosed Thursday by the Air Force in a prepared
statementThe service said it would now "initiate action ... to obtain an
appropriate price adjustment."
Lockheed denied the charges in a prepared statement Thursday,
asserting there was "no merit to these allegations."
The allegation against Lockheed is based on provisions of the federal
Truth-in-Negotiation act and involves a complex area of law known as
"defective pricing."
The Pentagon said Thursday it believes the dollar amount in dispute
with Lockheed is the largest ever encountered in such a case. '
The allegation against the Lockheed-Georgia Co., the subsidiary that
builds the giant C-5 cargo plane, stems from a probe conducted by the
Defense Contract Audit Agency in May. That audit, which has not been
released publicly, has now been evaluated by the Air Force, and its basic
findings accepted, the service said.
According to the Pentagon statement, the heart of the case revolves
around Lockheed's alleged failure to share with Air Force precurement
agents the company's bargaining goals and objectives prior to negotiating
a new union agreement in 1983, ..
Ey withholding that information, the Air Force proceeded to negotiate a
$7.8 billion contract in December 1982 for 30 C-53 aircraft, using earlier
Lockheed estimates for its labor expenses, the statement said.
The Air Force said Thursday the defense audit agency had projected the
defective pricing would total "between $400 million and $500 million"
through pompletion of the program in fiscal 1989.
Elm Creek car crash kills one
ELM CREEK A car carrying ifour people from Illinois slammed into a
truck parked on the shoulder of Interstate 80 near Elm Creek, Neb.,
Thursday, killing one person and injuring the other passengers, Buffalo
County Sheriff Frank Dineen said. ,
Dineen said the car was sliced in two when it struck the rear end'of an
unoccupied semi-trailer truck that had been disabled because of an
electrical fire.
xmott u, nmujr, Ui ivucKiord, In., was Killed in tne crasn, Dineen
said. . .
, Hardy's young daughter, whose age and. name were not known, was,
flown by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha) where Dineen said she was in
critical condition.
OinarFrancis. 19 r.fPnrir
ua Hospital in Kearney; Dineen
said.