The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 17

The Indianapolis Star Friday, February 26, 1999 -1 0 IU fraternity won't appeal 1-year suspension Sanction imposed after an alcohol-related death. Page 2 Robbery suspect caught taking a nap Police arrest man found sleeping at site of break-in. Page 4 LOTTERIES 2 MARION COUNTY 3 BILLY GRAHAM OBITUARIES 6 -WEATHER 8 L) InfoLlne: 624-4636 Online: www.stamews.com Be prepared for anything on i UWOWAB DDD mi at the dawn of the millennium His pal Sean Rich wielded blade that killed Mathiases, Paul Brightman testifies. John Shaughnessy 'A 7 1 During their burglary of the house the next evening, Brightman said, he was upstairs and Rich was on the main floor, rummaging for things to steal, when the Mathiases unexpectedly arrived home. Rich was confronted by the couple, Brightman said, and they said, "Don't hurt us." Brightman said he came down the stairs and hit both of them on the head with a handgun Rich had given him that night.

He said he felt Cleta Mathias was knocked unconscious, and he "didn't see much movement" by the minister. "I really didn't know what to do," Brightman told Deputy Prosecutor Car ole Johnson and jurors in Marion Supe- rior Court. He said he pleaded and argued with Rich to leave, but Rich told him, "No, because they know me." During his testimony, Brightaan sometimes glanced at Rich and said the defendant had been like a brother to him. Brightman said he had dated Rich's sister at one time and got to know the family so well that he called Rich's parents "Mom" and "Dad." I Rich had been suspected by church officials of stealing from the church's collection plates since late 1995 and trying to cash checks made out to the church. He was confronted by Mathias See SLAYINGS Page 2 UL.

Tom Walters Ignores the sign outside Brooke's Army-Navy Surplus Store, the one that suggests he should stock up on in the couple's Northeastside home. Brightman said it was Rich's idea to burglarize the residence on the night of Dec. 15, 1996. He said Rich told him he had been at the home a day earlier and had seen many nice items Inside. Rich, 17, was a member of North-minster Presbyterian Church, where Mathias was senior pastor.

On the day before the killings, he was with some boys in a church youth group who were sent to the Mathias home to pick up a rug being donated to the church. By William J. Booher STAFF WRITER A 19-year-old man who admitted guilt in the ax slayings of a Presbyterian minister and his wife testified Thursday that his longtime pal, Sean P. Rich, swung the blade that killed the couple. In a steady, clear voice, Paul L.

Brightman told Jurors In Rich's murder trial that the Rev. C. Frederick and Cle-ta Mathias, both 64, surprised them while they were committing a burglary Paul Brighlman will be sentenced to 65 years for felony murder. BLUE TRIANGLE! Where past, present and future meet A -T Man admits crime he claims he can't recall Carl Brodnik, who says he has amnesia, pleads guilty to stealing funds from ex-employer. By Susan Schramm STAFF WRITER A man who disappeared from Indianapolis after embezzling money from his employer says he doesn't remember the theft.

But on Thursday in court, he admitted he committed the crime. Carl Brodnik pleaded guilty to one count of theft. Brodnik has amnesia and can't recall the theft in 1994, said his attorney, Maureen Keefe. But Brodnik pleaded guilty because he doesn't dispute medical supplies, ammunition 1 boxes, water cans and survival blankets. Inside the store, the 43-year-1 old Walters walks past the $595 generator that some people have already bought their precau- tion against the potential loss of heat and electricity If the Y2K computer situation causes util- By problems when the year 1 2000 begins.

A few steps later, Walters passes the counter where owner Buzz Smith is holding two chemical suits and gas masks for a female customer. Smith greets Walters and asks his fre-, quent customer what he plans to do to prepare for the year 2000 computer problem. "I Just have faith it will all work out," says Walters, who has stopped in to buy satchels for the architectural prints his company makes. "1 put a lot of trust In the people I associate with the bank, utilities, su- permarkets. I got too much to worry about without worrying if I'll have enough water on New I Year's Eve.

You could just go nuts worrying." Walking the tightrope I "The line between faith and fear, panic and preparation is i often a thin one. And it will be j. interesting to see how Ameri-j cans will walk that line in the next 10 months, i It's already Interesting to see J- that survivalists and govern- rnent officials not exactly blood brothers both view the potential computer problems as serious concern, i A report from a special U.S. Senate committee examining the potential effects of the Y2K i problem refers to it as "one of the most serious and potentially devastating events this nation has ever encountered." In a letter to their colleagues at the beginning of that report, Sens. Robert F.

Bennett, R-i Utah, and Christopher J. Dodd, write: "Make no mis- take, this problem will affect us all individually and collectively I in very profound ways. It will indeed impact individual busi-l nesses and the global economy. I In some cases, lives could even be at stake." That risk, the report says, is I particularly a concern in the health care industry "one of i the worst-prepared for Y2K." Two sides of humanity I As the owner of Brooke's Ar-i my-Navy Surplus Store at 54th and College, Smith sees the thin line that people walk between faith and fear, panic and preparation. The customers of this Gulf War veteran range from youths I who buy Army jackets as fash-1 ion statements to people who buy chemical suits and gas masks because they fear biological and chemical warfare from the evidence prosecutors would have presented at trial, she said.

Brodnik, faces up three years prison at sentencing, scheduled 49, '6t to In for yyyy-' Carl Brodnik, 49, had been missing until family April 8 before Marlon Superior Court Judge Charles Wiles. The sentence is Staff Photo Mpozi Mshale Tolbert MOVING IN: Tony George is one of the first residents who moved into the recently renovated Blue Triangle Residence Hall at 725 N. Pennsylvania St. in Indianapolis. The apartment house gives tenants a chance for a fresh start.

A home that holds promise and police discovered him through an Unsolved Mysteries episode. suspendable, which means Brodnik could get no prison fetes mm! il Ills HER FIRST DIGS: After visiting the renovated Blue Triangle Residence Hall, former tenant Ann Moore said, "It made me remember just how young I was." Revived building offers tenants the means to better lives 1 1 time. The plea agreement requires Brodnik to have a check for $23,618.11 ready at his sentencing-to pay back his former employer. Prosecutors dropped five other counts of theft that were filed against Brodnik in 1994. The case gained national media attention after a story last year on the Unsolved Mysteries television program described how a man suffering from amnesia had been found in Wyoming.

The man established a new life in Jackson Hole, called himself Pat Brown and eventually got a job at the local newspaper, where he worked his way up to circulation manager. Brodnik appeared on the show, and a relative recognized him as a man who had disappeared from the Indianapolis area. Soon, police learned Brodnik was wanted on an arrest warrant in Marion County. Brodnik was an accountant at a See CRIME Page 2 By Diana Penner STAFF WRITER ack in the late 1950s, Ann IOI Moore and Carol Gooding I were Just getting started with I their lives. Today, Perry Carter Jr.

and Tony George are looking for fresh starts. Four decades and countless life experiences separate Moore and Gooding from Carter and George; dreams and an address connect them. All four are tied to 725 N. Pennsylvania St. Gooding, Moore and hundreds of other young women lived there when itwasaYWCA.

George, Carter and dozens of other men and women of all ages have recently moved in at the same address, which has a new name and mission: Blue Triangle Residence Hall, where social services and other supports are in place to help tenants get their lives on track. "I am blessed," Carter said simply. Staff Photo Robert Scheer rent of $275. However, rent does not cover the costs of social services and other programming, covered by a combination of public and private funding, said Frank Hagaman, presi- See PROMISE Page 5 Residents began moving into Blue Triangle in December. So far, almost half of the building's 96 one-room apartments are occupied.

The building is not a subsidized housing project in the traditional sense. Tenants must pay a monthly Bill limiting adoptions perishes in Senate terrorists. Talk to some of these people and their minds take the shortcut from fear to panic, creating scenarios in which Americans are dangerously pitted against one another for food, warmth and money scenes that include guns and gas masks. Talk to others and there's the hope that if problems arise, people will help each other, sharing and exchanging re- sources. A conversation with Smith contains both those possibilities 4- the two sides of human nature In difficult times.

Still, as an individual and a businessman, Smith preaches preparation instead of panic. "The government says you should have at least one week's supply of food and water, and have some money on hand," he says. This is not just right-wing militia kooks who are concerned about this. It's something everyone should take seriously." John Shaughnessy's column appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You can reach him at (317) 1 111th While sponsor is away, Democrats vote against accepting committee report; Republicans stay mum.

"By the time I got down here, they said it was too late. I couldn't do anything." Sen. John Waterman General Assembly Inside OKd: A But when Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan, who presides over the Senate, called for the committee report of the bill to be accepted or rejected, it was soundly rejected by Democrats without objection from Republicans.

That means SB 311 which some believe was aimed at stopping gays and lesbians from adopting children is dead. The issue, however, could be resurrected later in another adoption-related bill. SB 311 was rejected while its sponsor, Sen. John Waterman, was off the Senate floor, leading the Shelburn Republican to accuse Kernan and Democrats of deliberately killing his legislation. "By the time I got down here, they in the Senate 31-19.

Any Republican senator on the floor at the time could have called for a head count of those who supported or opposed the bill. None did. And no Republican rose to object when Kernan sent SB 311 to its demise. "It was a very clear message when the Republicans went silent," said Marr la Stevens, director of public policy for LGBT Fairness Indiana, an advocacy organization for gays and lesbians. Stevens' group had lobbied to defeat the legislation, arguing that current law requiring courts to consider the best in terests of a child In an adoption works well.

See ADAPTION Page 2 two-year budget is passed by the By Stuart A. Hirsch STAFF WRITER Legislation making it tougher for single people to adopt children died on the floor of the Indiana Senate on Thursday without any debate. The lethal blow to Senate Bill 311 came on what was supposed to be a routine vote to allow the proposed legislation to advance to the Sepate floor for amendments and final passage. said it was too late. I couldn't do anything," Waterman said.

"I'm really disappointed in the lieutenant governor for participating in that type of action and the Democrat caucus. It's Just one of the dirtiest things I've seen since I've been up here. It Just taints the process." But Republicans could have saved the bill they outnumber Democrats House and heads for the GOP-run Senate. B4..