The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 2

2ATHEDES MOINES REGISTER Tuesday, DtcembCT 1, 1987 REGISTER PHOTO BY DOUG WELLS Appeals court: Iowan guilty of only 1 murder DATELINE IOWA IB Anti-abortion group offers to bury fetus not the outrageous conduct that is required for damages to be awarded. The court upheld the conviction of Dennis Lamar on murder and robbery charges for his role in the shooting death of Newton police officer Daniel McPherren after Lamar robbed a Newton Hy-Vee Food Store in 1985. Thomas Gladson also was found guilty. Lamar claimed that he should not have been held responsible for McPherren's death because Glad-son was not participating in the robbery and had panicked and shot the officer to avoid arrest when the robbery went awry. The court affirmed the first-degree murder conviction in Black Hawk County of Steven Bruce Hep-perle.

He claimed police did not inform him of his right to remain silent while he was being questioned concerning the strangulation death of a neighbor, Diane Voss. The appeals court said Hepperle was not technically in custody and, therefore, law officers did not have to advise him of his right to remain silent. Hepperle also contended that a district judge improperly allowed testimony about a prior sexual abuse charge against him. But the appeals court said the similarity between the earlier case and Voss death were striking, and the testimony was properly allowed. The court upheld the conviction of Noe Jiminez Sanchez in Dickinson County on fraud charges for illegally obtaining welfare benefits and food stamps.

Sanchez was accused of failing to notify officials that his wife, Leanna, had $88,000 income from workman's compensation between 1975 and 1984 while he was receiving the government aid. Health-care needs in rural Iowa outlined By FRANK SANTIAGO Register Staff Writer An anti-abortion group plans to provide a funeral and burial for a fetus found recently at the Des Moines sewage treatment plant. "We have claimed the remains be cause there is no one else to do it. We from the disposition that if it were you or I we'd hope that someone would claim our remains and would provide a decent, brief and dignified burial," said Cece Zenti of Iowans for Life. Named Baby Boy Doe by the orga nization, the fetus will be given an ec umenical religious service later this week, with burial at Glendale Ceme tery, Zenti said.

Several people have indicated they will attend the service, she said. The expenses, said Zenti, are being paid with donations from board members and other concerned persons. The seven-inch fetus, found Nov. 24 in a cleaning bar screen that separates debris from water at the sewage treatment plant, had developed about 4Vi months of the mother's 9-month pregnancy. It weighed between a half-pound and three-quarters of a pound.

The fetus was male and apparently white, said Dr. Thomas Bennett, state medical examiner. It may have been flushed down a toilet and could have come from anywhere in the city. Authorities have been unable to determine whether the pregnancy ended with an abortion or a miscarriage. "It's conceivable, but not probable, that the mother could have expelled the pre-born child without knowing it," said Zenti.

Bennett said the chance was "slim" that the mother would be found. Police, however, are continuing their investigation. Had the fetus not been claimed, Bennett said, it would have been used as a surgical specimen and later incinerated. "We have a pre-born child found in the sewage treatment plant, for goodness sakes, and there was no one to claim it," Zenti said. Architects praise convention center The design of the Des Moines Con vention Center has been recognized by the Seattle, chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The $14 million building, which opened in July 1985, was selected for the award from more than 80 entries, Marga Rose-Hancock, executive di rector of the chapter, said in a letter to City Engineer Harold Smith. It was designed by Loschky Marquardt Nesholm of Seattle, and Brooks Borg Skiles of Des Moines. Wendell Ross works on steps in the new state historical building atrium. State museum readies fund goal, opens Dec. 14 By CHARLES BULLARD Register Staff Writer It took twice as long as originally anticipated, but the fund drive for the new state historical building has reached its 10.4 million goal, Gov.

Terry Branstad announced Monday. The conclusion of the 4 Mi -year fund-raising effort came just two weeks before the Dec. 14 opening of the $25.4 million, building just west of the Statehouse. The fund drive was launched in the spring of 1983 and originally was expected to take two years. But the lingering recession and Iowa's bleak farm economy combined to slow the pace of contributions.

"We've done it through the farm crisis and the worst economic times in this state since the 1930s," said Branstad. "It did take longer but that makes it even more meaningful." More than 3,300 corporations and individuals donated. The remainder of the $25.4 million came from a $10 million state appropriation and a $5 million bequest from the estate of Glenn Grover Herrick. In another development, Suburban Moving and Storage of 10245 Douglas Ave. has been awarded the contract to move artifacts from the old historical building to the new facility.

Suburban was the low bidder among four moving companies, at $226,747. Much of the routine moving is being done by state employees and volunteers. Suburban will move bulky items such as the display cases of animals, fragile artifacts such as the early airplanes and priceless items such as the Conestoga wagon. Dale Schroeder of the Iowa Department of General Services said Suburban will begin moving the 300 truckloads of artifacts after the holidays. The move is expected to be completed by June 15.

Each truckload will be insured for $100,000, he said, so state officials will monitor the contents of each truck to make sure the value does not exceed that figure. Schroeder said the movers will receive special training in the handling of delicate artifacts and Suburban has agreed to use the same crew throughout the 5 Vt -month project. By FRANK SANTIAGO Register Staff Writer The Iowa Court of Appeals threw out the murder conviction of an Em-metsburg man in the mysterious death of a Forest City woman, but the court ruled Monday that the man was guilty of killing the woman's husband. Samuel Jerome Origer, 25, had asked the court to overturn his murder convictions for the deaths of Bradley "Robb" Johnson and Jennifer Johnson because he contended there was insufficient evidence to support the guilty verdicts. Jennifer Johnson, 19, was found stabbed to death in February 1985 in the couple's home outside of Forest City.

A month later, the body of Robb Johnson, 21, was found shot to death in a ditch several miles away. Investigators concluded that the deaths were related to Robb Johnson's illegal drug dealings. In its 4-1 ruling, the Court of Appeals said there was enough evidence to support Origer's conviction in Robb Johnson's death. But the court said it was "merely speculation" that Origer also killed Jennifer Johnson. Investigators never found the murder weapons, and much of the case against Origer was based on statements he made that led to the discovery of Robb Johnson's body.

The appeals court said, however, "None of this evidence suggests the victims were killed by one man." Chief Judge Leo Oxberger, in a dissenting opinion, said the evidence was insufficient to find Origer guilty of either death. "I do not find any material facts connecting (Origer with the crimes," he said. In other rulings: Judge Rosemary Sackett called on Iowa's courts to re-examine their reasons for granting alimony in di vorce cases. Her comments came in the appeals court's decision that Bremer County man, Matthew Sexton, can stop paying alimony to his ex-wife, Virginia S. Sexton, who has remarried.

"Why should marriage terminate Virginia right to payments made in exchange for marital sacrifices?" Sackett asked. "The fact alimony was to terminate on remarriage is based on an outdated sexual stereotype that a woman's place was in the home and unless she received alimony until she found a new spouse she would be a burden to society." She added, "This traditional con cept needs to be examined in today's society when we no longer look at alimony as just support but may use it to balance the economic inequities of the marriage. The court threw out an Iowa City man's lawsuit against a friend who had an affair with his wife for a year Richard L. Strauss sued Thomas Ci- lek, alleging that he was the victim of 'intentional infliction of emotional distress." The appeals court said. We do not condone promiscuous sexual conduct," but the affair was It" Joyce Johnston "A blessing from heaven" Richard Scott "Never dreamed it would happen" Scott, an operations supervisor for Ryder Truck Rental, bought his winning ticket Wednesday in Glidden, allowing the lottery computer to pick his numbers, as Johnston did.

Last Wednesday night, Scott's wife and nephew watched the jackpot show, then told Scott the winning numbers when he came home from work at 6:45. Scott compared the numbers with those on his ticket, then handed it to his nephew, John Scott, for him to check. The rest is Scott family history. Other than paying bills, the only-plans the family has is to visit Scott's mother-in-law in Vallejo, Calif. "I never dreamed it would happen to me," Scott said.

v' i i fern Winneshiek County cave given national designation The Register's Iowa News Service DECORAH, IA. Cold Water Cave in Winneshiek County has been designated a national natural landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The department cited the cave for its seven miles of passage ways formed over the past 200,000 years in the glaciated Upper Midwest where caves are rare. Cold Water Cave was one of eight features to be named national natural landmarks.

The eight places met cri- teria qualifying them as "nationally significant examples of geological or ecological features among the best of America's natural heritage, the department said. The designations, which bring the number of national natural land marks to 586, carry no requirements for owners. But the department in vites owners to make voluntary agreements to protect the properties, Mom whose newborn died in toilet ordered to prison The Renter's Iowa News Service SIOUX CITY, IA. A 28-year-old Sioux City woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from the death of her newborn son, who was delivered into a toilet last June. Pamela Joy Anderson, who initial ly was charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty in a plea-bar gaining agreement to child endanger- ment and neglect of a dependent per son.

Anderson was sentenced last week to a 10-year term on each count by Woodbury County District Judge Michael Welsh. Welsh ruled the sen tences should be served consecutive ly- Clinton man convicted; set fire to vacant house The Register's Iowa News Service CLINTON, IA. Charles H. Frei- burger, 40, of Clinton has been found guilty of second-degree arson in con nection with one of a series of fires that plagued Clinton last summer. Sentencing was set for Jan.

7. The maximum penalty for second-degree arson is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Freiburger was arrested near the scene of a fire that erupted in a vacant house about 2:45 a.m. Aug. 20 Officers had staked out the area be cause of a rash of fires that had been set.

One killed in collision of car, truck near Creston The Register's Iowa News Service CRESTON, IA. An unidentified person was killed when a car and a truck collided west of Creston Monday. An Iowa State Patrol dispatcher said the car apparently crossed the center line while rounding a curve on U.S. Highway 34 three miles west of Creston and collided with the truck driven by James Mason, 39, of Creston. Mason and a passenger, Wayne Heckethorn, were not injured.

The Iowa State Patrol would not identify the victim Monday evening, pending notification of relatives. Trial begins for 16-year-old in death of his stepmother The Register's Iowa News Service MUSCATINE, IA. The trial of a 16-year-old Maquoketa youth charged with fatally stabbing his stepmother and setting fire to their home began Monday. A Muscatine court administrator said jury selection for the trial of James Corder began Monday and is expected to continue today. Testimony probably will not begin until late today or early Wednesday, the administrator said.

Corder is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree arson in connection with the March 25 stabbing death of Marsha Corder, 37, and the house fire that followed. of I student missing, last seen in Cedar Rapids The Register's Iowa News Service TOLEDO, IA. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Diego (Calif.) Police Department are searching for an Iowan who has been missing for more than a week. John Hebrink, 21, a student at the University of Iowa, has been missing since Nov. 20 when two of his friends watched him board a plane in Cedar Rapids bound for San Diego, his mother, Anna Lee Hebrink of Toledo, said Monday.

Hebrink, a member of the Navy Reserve, was headed to San Diego for a training mission aboard the USS Callahan, she said. Anna Hebrink said she thinks something happened to her son because he was looking forward to the training. Navy officials confirmed that he was not aboard the Callahan when it left she said. Iranstad to take charge of hunt for education chief By GARY HEINLEIN Register Staff Writer Iowa should try to increase the number of rural emergency medical workers and seek a legislative solution to the problem of medical malpractice liability, a governor's task force says. The recommendations are part of a report on the future of rural health care, prepared by the Governor's Task Force on Rural Health and Emergency Medical Services.

"Fundamental change is occurring in health care in the United States and restructuring certain aspects of the health care system is necessary and valuable," says a preamble to the report by the 19-member task force. Gov. Terry Branstad asked public health director Mary Ellis to establish the group to develop strategies for dealing with the changes. The report says rural emergency medical services have been "impeded" by the loss of federal money for such programs in 1981. It says Iowa now is 48th in the nation in money provided for emergency medical services, and three-fourths of the state's emergency medical services are staffed by volunteers.

Without help, the programs will lose volunteer workers and their equipment will become increasingly obsolete, according to the report. It suggests state-local partnerships to help pay for training and equipment, and getting insurance companies to pay for emergency medical services as much as possible. The report says Iowa is experiencing a shortage of health care professionals, and some doctors are leaving obstetrics because they are afraid of being sued. The cost and availability of malpractice insurance have become serious problems for some doctors. Besides legislation to solve the malpractice insurance problem, says the report, the state should increase efforts to recruit nurses by offering more attractive salaries and benefits, and increase training programs for therapists and other health workers in short supply.

Iowa also should develop a "loan forgiveness" program to encourage graduates of Iowa health-professions schools to work in areas where there are shortages of doctors or other medical workers, according to the report. The report calls for greater sup port of services to the elderly. It says the need for such services is growing because the state's elderly population is growing. It says there should be a statewide system of "needs assessment and case management" regarding elderly care. Other suggestions regarding the el derly include: "innovative" residential programs; support for efforts by state licensing agencies to improve the care at "poor quality nursing determining how best to pay for longer term care; encouraging insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and others to provide more support for long term care; and encouraging more "well elderly" clinics in rural areas.

By LINDA LANTOR Register Staff Writer Gov. Terry Branstad will recruit and name a new director for the Iowa Department of Education, probably within 10 days, a state official said Monday. Lucas DeKoster, president of the Iowa Board of Education, said follow ing a state board meeting in Ames Monday that the board recommended Branstad take over the search. The search for a successor to Rob ert Benton, who resigned in August, stalled last week when the two finalists for the Job withdrew from consid eration. "The governor is going to do his own recruiting," said DeKoster, who also is head of the search committee that had recommended the two final ists from among 22 applicants.

DeKoster said the search was being taken over by Branstad because little time is left until January, when it is hoped a new director will be chosen. Douglas Gross, a Branstad aide, said the governor still hopes to have a new director by January. Gross said key legislators are agreeable to raising the director's top salary from $66,200 to between $70,000 and $80,000 annually. "With the $70,000 to $80,000 range, we think we ought to be able to get a top candidate," said Gross. DeKoster indicated, however, that Branstad is leaning toward choosing an Iowan.

One finalist, Robert Maurer, who is the No. 2 administrator in the New York state education department, said he withdrew his name because the $66,200 Iowa salary is too low. The other finalist, Carol McDan-olds Bradley, an administrator in the Iowa Department of Education, said she withdrew because she learned Iowa school officials were concerned that she had never been a school superintendent. arms control and treaty compliance will begin at the Hotel Savery at 9:30 Thomas Cochran, senior staff scientist Lotto winners do double-take then rejoice By BOB SHAW Resistor Staff Writer Two Iowa lotto winners couldn't believe their eyes when they checked their winning tickets for jackpots worth $380,000 and $400,000. "I don't call it luck.

I call it a blessing from heaven," said Joyce Johnston of Tripoli, whose husband reached for his glasses to make sure she had won $400,000 in Saturday's drawing. Likewise, Richard Scott, 47, of Des Moines handed his winning ticket to a nephew to confirm the numbers. "I couldn't tell if it was a 13 for sure. It was stamped on the lottery insignia," he said. "I didn't think I would win, but I prayed I'd win something." Johnston won $400,000 in Saturday's lotto drawing, and Scott won $380,000 last Wednesday.

Both were at lottery headquarters in Des Moines Monday to pick up their first checks, Johnston's for $20,000 and Scott's for $19,000, minus taxes. Johnston, 45, a nursing home activity director, let the lottery's computer pick her numbers. "That way I can play without feeling I'm gambling. I'm not using dice or cards or anything," she said. Johnston started playing the lottery 10 weeks ago.

"I've been accused of having ESP," she said. "A feeling came over me to buy two lottery tickets, and only two" for each drawing. On Saturday, she and her husband, Robert, watched the lottery jackpot show as they ate a fish-and-chips dinner at home. Robert Johnston said: "I looked at the ticket. I looked at the numbers, and I looked at the ticket.

Then I said, 'Uh oh, I'd better get my glasses. Holy mackerel, she's a "We were all in shock," Joyce Johnston said. "My husband's fingers were pointing at the envelope. Then we started dancing around and screaming." The family plans to spend the money to fix their house and cars. 11 Peace Institute to hold arms treaty conference The Register's Iowa News Service GRINNELL, IA.

A conference on sponsored by the Iowa Peace Institute will be Dec. 7 in Des Moines, coinciding with the visit to the United States of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. "Avoiding a Nuclear Pearl Harbor" a.m. Other sponsors are the Stanley Foundation of Muscatine and two New York organizations, the Council on Economic Priorities and the Fund for Peace. The conference will address the meaning of the treaty on intermediate- range nuclear forces expected to be signed by the United States and Soviet Union and what the treaty means for future arms-control discussions.

Speakers at the conference will be: for the Natural Resources Defense Council; Gloria Duffy, president of Global Outlook and former assistant director of the Arms Control Association; Ralph Earle II, former director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Thomas Graham general counsel to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under President Reagan; Michael Krepon, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Betty Lall of the Council on Economic Priorities; Stanley Resor, secretary of the army under President Lyndon Johnson; and Roland Tirherbaev, deputy ambassador of the Soviet Union to the United States..