4 A&E
Lights, Camera,
Action!
An in-depth look at the
jobs of those people
outside of the spotlight.
Page 9
Wednesday
41/20
Today, mostly sunny
and warmer.
March 9, 1994
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 93 No. 120
Inmate says Bjorklund bragged of rape
By Kara G. Morrison
Senior Reporter
and Todd Neeley
Staff Reporter
An inmate whose cell was near Roger
Bjorklund’s testified Tuesday that
Bjorklund bragged of raping and mur
dering Candice Harms.
In the second day of Bjorklund’s sentencing
hearing, prosecutors called Jeffrey O’Kelly, an
inmate who was housed near Bjorklund at the
Lancaster County Jail in December 1992.
Prosecutors arc seeking the death penalty
against Bjorklund, who was found guilty in
November of murdering Harms, a UNL student.
“(Bjorklund) was not remorseful at all,”
O’Kelly said, “and he said if he got out, he
r
would do it again.”
Defense attorneys argued that O’Kelly, who
now is an inmate at an Oklahoma federal pris
on, was testifying so he would be considered for
a reduction of his sentence.
O’Kelly is in prison for federal drug conspir
acy and money-laundering charges.
O’Kelly said Bjorklund told him that he and
Scott Barney, who pleaded guilty to the murder
last week, were looking for someone to abduct
when they followed Harms to her apartment and
pulled into her parking lot.
Bjorklund told O’Kelly he got out of the car,
grabbed Harms and “put a gun in her face.”
O’Kelly said after Harms was abducted and
brought to a remote area near 86th and Have
lock Avenue, Bjorklund sent Barney to town for
condoms, Vaseline and gasoline.
O’Kelly said Bjorklund told him he and
Barney then took turns penetrating Harms while
the other forced her to have oral sex.
“They forced her to say nasty things to
them,” O’Kelly said. “They made her say how
good they were.”
Bradly Johnson, a correctional officer at the
Lancaster County Corrections Department, said
he monitored a conversation between Bjorklund
and O’Kelly on Dec. 18, 1992.
Johnson described the tone of conversation
as serious.
Bjorklund “wasn’t smiling or laughing, but
there were no tears coming out of his eyes
cither,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he monitored only one conver
sation between the men, but said he did not hear
Bjorklund give details about raping Harms or
Travis Heying/DN
Not even a twitch
Angelisa Drummond, a junior art major, poses as part of a still life during a drawing class Tuesday afternoon in
Andrews Hall.
Kerrey: New technology worth the cost
By Brian Sharp
Staff Rapottar_
Communication technology may bring
wealth and happiness, out Sen. Bob
Kerrey said it might also further sepa
rate the rich from the poor.
Kerrey spoke at the Nebraska Center for
Continuing Education on Tuesday as part of the
Governor’s Conference on Information Tech
nology. The conference was attended by com
munication, education and business personnel.
Unless a stale fund is established to keep
everyone familiar with technology such as
Internet, Kerrey said, those who can’t afford it
arc going to be left behind.
But the costs for the programs are beyond
what most public schools and average families
can afford, he said. And when it comes to
teaching the needed skills, “the home is the first
defense.”
Problems arise if a family cannot afford the
technology, Kerrey said, because the child not
only will have more trouble grasping the skills
but also may not learn them at all.
Kerrey said the costs for technology would
have to be shouldered by everyone in the state,
which meant more taxes. But, he said, the
benefits to Nebraskans would far outweigh any
cost burden.
“I have never felt more confident with a
See KERREY on 2
Senate votes on grades, faculty parking
By Angie Brunkow
Senior Reporter
The newest proposal to change UNL’s
course grading system met with silence
at the Academic Senate meeting Tues
day.
The proposal, presented by psychology pro
fessor Don Jensen, did not get the required
second that would open it up for senate consid
eration.
The Jensen proposal would have professors
assign students an A, B, C, D, F, P or N for each
credit hour of class.
The current system, consisting of letters and
pluses, docs nol function well, Jensen said.
“Sooner or later we will need to take action,”
he said.
Senate members voted down a proposal to
add minuses to the system after a 2 1/2 hour
discussion at their meeting last month.
By a close vote, senate members decided to
give the new proposal to the grading and exam
ination committee for consideration.
“I think that we’re probably exhausted with
the issue at the moment," Gerald Parsons,
agricultural communications professor, said.
In other business, the senate gave its approv
al to a faculty parking permit fee increase that
would more than double the current cost.
A proposal presented by Law Senator Rich
ard Duncan would have kept the increase tied to
a faculty salary increase, which is at about 2
percent. ^
Faculty permits, which now cost $58 per
year, will increase to $120 per year.
Duncan said the increase was sizable enough
to absorb a substantial portion of the faculty
salary increase.
“It’s a week worth of groceries for a single
parent,” he said.
But Paul Carlson, interim business manag
er, said the increase amounted to little more
See SENATE on 2
other details O’Kelly testified to hearing.
Special Deputy Public Defender Richard
Goos questioned the credibility of O’Kelly’s
testimony, calling O’Kelly a known drug user.
Goos said O’Kelly had previously not been able
to remember details relating to his illegal drug
dealings.
O’Kelly said he remembered his conversa
tions with Bjorklund clearly and said he “could
care less” about getting his sentence reduced.
“1 came forward because of what he did to
Candi Harms,” O’Kelly said. “I remember the
sick things that he said that he done.”
O’ Kelly said his conversations with Bjorklund
occurred through holes in a steel door connect
ed to a sub-day room where inmates were
See BJORKLUND on 2
Two proposals
get approval
from senators
By Matthew Waite
Senior Reporter
n amendment that would give victims of crimes
A some basic rights received second
round approval from the Nebraska Leg
islature on Tuesday after more than 5 1 /
2 hours of debate.
Omaha Sens. Ernie Chambers and Carol
Pirsch sparred over
LR29CA, an amendment to
the Nebraska Constitution,
for most of the day.
If approved, LR29CA
would guarantee victims of
crimes certain rights, in
cluding:
• The right to be informed
LEGISLATURE criminal proceedings
in which the victim has the
right to be present.
• The right to be present at all criminal
proceedings at which the victim is allowed.
• The right to submit statements, oral or
written, at all criminal proceedings.
• The right to receive prompt restitution of
injury or loss from the person convicted of the
crime.
Chambers’ mam argument against LR29CA
was that a constitutional amendment was not
needed to achieve the results that LR29CA
seeks.
“The constitution should be reserved for
important... matters that can’t be resolved by
statute,” he said.
Chambers criticized Pirsch and the proposed
amendment, calling the it a political move.
“People will believe that this (amendment)
fights crime — that it will make the streets
safer,” he said. “People will believe (theamend
ment) will do all these things politicians say
during the lying season, which is what we are
in.”
Calling the amendment a travesty and a
mockery of the constitution. Chambers said the
sponsors of the bill did not understand the bill.
“We cannot be weak-kneed and with trem
bling hearts when dealing with the constitu
tion,” he said. Chambers said the amendment
offended the constitution.
“When you offend the constitution... you get
on the fighting side of me,” he said.
See LEGISLATURE on 2
Meet NU
President
Dennis
Smith
See Question end Answer
Interview on piye 3.
i
