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Nee welcomes
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basketball coach Danny cc/qq
Nee is expected to sign a
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Wednesday. Thursday, mostly
Pag. 7 j»hii,hs *
Officer recalls incriminating phone conversation
By Dionne Searcey
Senior Reporter
A Lincoln police officer testified Tues
day he overheard Roger Bjorklund on
the telephone saying he and Scott
Barney were equally responsible for the death
of UNL student Candice Harms.
Timothy Kenned testified during the 11th
day of hearings in the first-degree murder trial
of Bjorklund. Bjorklund and Barney have been
charged in the Sept. 22,1992, slaying of Harms.
Kenned told jurors he was left alone to
guard Bjorklund Dec. 6, 1992, in a room that
contained a telephone. Bjorklund made five
calls in what Kennett said was an attempt to
reach Bjorklund’s wife, Shannon.
During one call, Kennett said, Bjorklund
asked for his wife, paused, then began talking.
During that conversation, Bjorklund said he
had prayed that God would take care of the
Harms case, Kennett said.
“He said he and Scotty were both equally
responsible for what had happened to Candi
Harms,” Kennett said. “They both felt like
doing something crazy, and they ended up
finding Candi Harms.”
Kennett said he then heard Bjorklund say:
“‘You know how crazy Scott can get at times/”
“He stated he had fingered Candice Harms,
but he had not raped her, that Scott had raped
her,” Kennett said.
“He said that he deserved to die, that what
he did was wrong,” Kennett said. “He stated
that he wanted to call Candi Harms’ parents
and tell them what happened.”
Kennett said Bjorklund then told his wife
that Barney could be very manipulative.
“He said that he loved her, that he wanted
to go to heaven, and that’s why he told police
what he did to Candice Harms,” Kennett said.
Chief Lancaster County Public Defender
Scott Helvie asked Kennett if he had testified
word-for-word what Bjorklund had said.
Kennett said he took notes on the telephone
conversations. Kennett said he attempted to
record the calls, but his tape recorder failed.
Before Kennctt’s testimony, jurors had left
Therrese Goodlett/DN
Peter Hoffman, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln law professor, leaves in December for the Republic of Palau.
Hoffman will serve as a Palaun Supreme Court justice.
Law professor finds bench, beach
By Ann Stack
Staff Reporter
Sandy beaches, coconut palms, crys
tal-clear oceans and 80-dcgrce tem
peratures. For some, paradise. For
Peter Hoffman, his office.
Hoffman, the Earl Dunlap Distinguished
Professor of Law at the UNL College of
Law, is leaving in December to be sworn in
as one of four justices on the Supreme
Court of the Republic of Palau.
Palau, a part of the U.N. Trust Territo
ries, is a small island in Micronesia with
about 16,000 residents.
Hoffman said he applied for the judicial
appointment last year and was the top pick
out of 250 applicants.
The application process was fairly sim
pic, he said.
After writing a letter and submitting his
resume, he met with the judicial board of
Palau. He was selected as the new Palau
Supreme Court justice from seven finalists.
Hodman, a law professor at UNL since
1974, said he became fa
V miliar with Palau
■ through his wife, Dc
Lora Nobuo, a Palau na
tive. They met while she
attended Union College
in Lincoln.
Hoffman said he
would not face a lan
guage barrier problem at
Palau because he said
most residents spoke English as a second
language. English also is the language of
the courts, he said, and the Palaun legal
system closely resembles U.S. laws.
“We became the United Nations admin
istrator to the island after World War II,”
Hoffman said. “The law is very similar to
American law, but custom plays a big part
in the law. It’s a well-developed traditional
law system grafted onto American law.”
The position is a lifetime appointment,
but Hoffman doesn’t plan to spend the rest
of his life on Palau’s sandy beaches. He has
a two-year leave of absence from the uni
versity and plans to return to Lincoln after a
few years.
“We’ll probably stay for several years,
but I have an initial two-year commitment.
Then I’ll just take it from there,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to it, but I’ll defi
nitely miss Lincoln.”
Professors say debate lacked substance
By Shane Tucker
Staff Raportar_
NL faculty members said Tuesday that
Ross Perot and Vice President A1 Gore
dodged some key issues in their debate
about the North America Free Trade Agree
ment.
Gore went head-to-head with Perot during
the 90-minute debate, hosted by Larry King
on a special edition of CNN’s “Larry King
Live.”
The debate provided an opportunity for the
Clinton Administration officials, who support
the plan, and Perot, who opposes it, to gather
Congressional votes on the trade agreement
that will come before Congress next week.
Craig MacPhee, chairman of UNL’s De
partment of Economics, said the most notice
able aspect of the debate was not what it
covered, but what it left out.
NAFTA’s effect on consumers, investment
and service-oriented jobs were not discussed
during the debate, MacPhee said.
Jobs in the service area, such as banking
and consulting, are a large part of the Ameri
can economy, said MacPhee, but neither Perot
or Gore mentioned them during the debate.
David Rapkin, associate professor of polit
ical science, also said he thought the debaters
didn’t address some important NAFTA issues.
Both Perot and Gore, Rapkin said, failed to
discuss the aggregate effects of NAFTA on
jobs.
The effects of NAFTA debaters chose to
focus on were exaggerated, MacPhee said.
Both Perot and Gore discussed the issue as
if it would have an immediate impact, he said.
But MacPhee said its immediate effects in
the U.S. would not be noticeable.
“1 think that the effects of it (NAFTA) have
been way overblown either way,” MacPhee
said.
The agreement probably will affect the two
See NAFTA on 6
► A Lincoln police officer testified Bjorklund told
his wife that he and Barney were responsible for
Candice Harms’ death.
► Bjorklund left the Lancaster County Jail early
Tuesday morning to look for the house where he
said he had bought a shovel. Defense attorneys
say Bjorklund bought the shovel after Sept. 22.
DN graphic
the room briefly so attorneys could meet with
the judge. They reaffirmed Bjorklund’s state
ments were made freely and voluntarily.
During the meeting, Helvic asked the judge
See TRIAL on 6
Fiji directors
suspend chapter
after incident
By Alan Phelps
Senior Reporter
National Phi Gamma Delta directors have
suspended the operations ofUNL’s Fiji
chapter after university officials said a
pledge was hazed Nov. 3.
Jeff Knoll, 19, remained in serious condi
tion Tuesday, nearly one week after falling
from a third-story Fiji bathroom window. Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln officials said fra
ternity members forced Knoll to drink just
before he fell.
A nursing supervisor at Lincoln General
Hospital said Knoll was conscious. She would
not elaborate on his condition at the request of
Knoll’s family.
Knoll suffered facial fractures and a closed
head injury when he landed on concrete and a
metal grate. He had evidently been trying to
climb down a pipe outside the window to
escape the house.
James Griesen, UNL vice chancellor for
student affairs, said Fiji’s members would be
allowed to cat and sleep in their fraternity
house, but activities as a fraternity — such as
social events — have been suspended pending
investigation into the incident.
See FIJI on 6
Three men face
assault charges
in beating case
From Stafl Reports
The Lancaster County Attorney’s office
filed third-degree assault charges Tues
day against three males suspected in the
assault of a UNL international student last
month.
Deputy County Attorney Jodi Nelson would
not release the court number assigned to the
case or the names of the suspects charged in
connection with the Oct. 17 assault of Boon
Chung “Marco” Ong.
One suspect will be arraigned Wednesday,
and a Nov. 17 arraignment date was set for the
two other suspects, Nelson said. One of the
three suspects is a University of Nebraska
Lincoln student.
James Griescn, vice chancellor for student
affairs, said any assault by a student on cam
pus constituted a violation of student code of
conduct.
“I will confirm that one or more students
who were involved in the incident where Mr.
Ong was assaulted have been notified of an
alleged infraction of the student code of con
duct,” he said. “However, I will not comment
on whether any of the individuals cited by the
county attorney have been so notified.”
Griesen said university judicial procedures
were confidential and declined to release the
name of the student involved.
Police said the University of Nebraska Ath
letic Department had assisted in the investiga
tion. Athletic department officials have de
clined comment.