The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 24

t4 The Pittsburgh Press Friday. May 23, 1986 METROREGIONAL White Oak woman guilty of killing ex-husband r.iETno BRIEFS which became final four months later. Although Johnson eventually won custody of the children, the division of the couple's property was still being decided in court when he died. Mrs. Johnson remained in the couple's home on Mohawk Drive, and Johnson and the children moved to Beckman Drive, where he was killed.

At the insistence of the 17-year-old's mother, Mrs. Johnson's affair ended shortly after her husband filed for divorce, testimony showed. Mrs. Johnson then went to California to visit friends, and she was admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles in August 1983 after telling the friends she wanted to kill Johnson, according to testimony. After returning to Pennsylvania punched his mother.

This is a woman driven by her temper," Nescott told the jury. "She was steaming, hot belligerent and vengeful because her marriage had fallen apart through her own actions." Five days before the slaying, Mrs. Johnson bought a revolver and bullets from a sporting goods store. On the morning of her husband's death and after waiting the legally required five days she returned to the store to pick up the gun. She waited more than nine hours before using it after taking both children out for ice cream and her daughter to the movies.

Immediately after the slaying, Mrs. Johnson drove home. She was arrested just 30 minutes later. ter Mrs. Johnson returned from an outing with the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Alice Another witness was Ricky, the couple's 15-year-old son, who watched his father die from the top of the basement steps.

"She got what she deserved," Ricky Johnson said after the jury's verdict Mrs. Johnson, who did not testify during the trial remained calm after the verdict was announced. Assistant District Attorney Gregory Nescott said Johnson's killing was the climax of a bitter divorce between the Johnsons, who were married in 1969. Testimony in the week-long trial before Judge Robert Kelly revealed Johnson found out his wife had an affair for several months in 1983 with a 17-year-old youth. In July 1 983, he filed for a divorce, in November 1983, Mrs.

Johnson was committed to McKeesport Hospital for psychiatric problems. Both hospitals released her after stays of less than a week after determining her problems stemmed not from mental illness but from stress related to the divorce. In 1984, Mrs. Johnson began threatening her husband as well as the youth she had the affair with and his mother. In one police report, Mrs.

Johnson is quoted as saying of her husband: "111 kill that (expletive deleted) if it is the last thing I da I don't want a (property) settlement; I want it all." She still faces charges of harassment and firearms violations in connection with incidents in May 1984, when she allegedly waved a gun in the teenager's face and Dy Jin Cuddy Jr. Th Pittsburgh Press Thirty minutes after she killed her former husband in front of their horrified children, Roxanne Johnson told a White Oak police officer "I had a job to do tonight, and I did a Common Pleas jury convicted Mrs. Johnson, 35, of first-degree murder in the Feb. 5, 1985, slaying of Richard Johnson, 38, at his White Oak home. The conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.

Johnson, the owner of Eden Park Roller Rink in McKeesport, was shot once while he was in his driveway, then chased into the basement of his house and shot twice more. The slaying occurred minutes af Amtrak says expansion doubtful HARRISBURG (AP) An Amtrak official said the railroad is Studying the possibility of adding a second Pittsburgh-Philadelphia run, but he warned there probably won't be enough equipment available for the additional service. "We do not see more equipment becoming available any time in the foreseeable future," Amtrak state affairs officer Wilfred Leatherwood Jr. told the state House Transportation Committee yesterday. "We will continue to examine the prospects for this second train, and will advise the Department of Transportation if Amtrak's available resources can meet the equipment requirements as soon as our fiscal year 1987 budget is finalized," Leatherwood said.

The comments came during a February when compared to the same month last year. The association asked the state Department of Transportation to commit money to make more service available on the line. In a recent letter to the association. PennDOT Deputy Secretary Don Bryan said a return to the pre-January service levels is unlikely. Amtrak does not want to reinstate the trains with state subsidies and the state will not fully fund the service on its own, he said.

Leatherwood said the elimination of Amtrak would hurt Pennsylvania more than any other state. Amtrak purchased $72 million in goods and services, served 5 million riders and had 3,600 employees on the payroll in Pennsylvania last year, he said. hearing on rail passenger service in Pennsylvania. Amtrak now operates one daily roundtrip Philadelphia-Pittsburgh train with a state subsidy. Roundtrip service also is available on a second daily train, between Chicago and New York, but some intermediate trips, such as between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, are not permitted.

Leatherwood did not address the possibility of restoring four round-trip Philadelphia-Harrisburg trains eliminated since January because of federal budget cuts. The Keystone Association of Railroad Passengers, in its prepared statement, said ridersnip has dropped dramatically on the line since the first cuts were made in January. Ridership declined 24.7 percent in Dusga damaged School was delayed about two 1 hours for Bethel Park's 4,800 stu- 1 dents after 37 buses were vandalized. "'Assistant Superintendent Peter Zonca said someone broke into the fus garage on Industrial Boulevard early today and stole coil wires in ftine buses and switched distributor wires in others so the buses could not start. Mechanics repaired the buses so all 47 are now operating, he said, adding police were investigating.

OS. iClerk cleared A clerk at the Adult Gift Shop in Moon has been cleared of two counts of obscenity in the sale of sexually tzplicit magazines to two detectives. A Common Pleas jury yesterday deliberated over four hours before Acquitting Joel R. Sober, 36, of Ava-Mt, the first clerk prosecuted for ob-enity in more than two yean. Sober sold four sexually explicit magazines to detectives on two occasions last fall in the store on Beers School Road.

Defense attorney Howard Stark, who called no witnesses during the brief trial, argued the magazines were protected by the constitutional jjght to free speech. iij Assistant District Attorney Mi phael Pribanic contended the magazines violated contemporary community standards. 2 killed on roads f. A Pleasant Hills man was killed jarly today when the car in which he was a passenger struck a utility pole on Route 51 in Jefferson, the tbfoner's office said. G.

Tighe, 24, 224 McClel-Iah Drive was pronounced dead at 4:45 a.m. at the scene, across from the Blue Flame Restaurant, a coroner's spokeswoman said. He was a passenger in a car driven by Michael Sopko, 27, of 715 Fidelity Drive, Baldwin Borough. Sopko was taken to Jefferson Center Hospital and transported by life Flight helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital where he was un- dergoing an operation. Jefferson Police Chief Albert Ba-sich said tire marks on the road indicated Sopko was traveling at an excessive speed.

He said charges are expected to be filed against Sopko, who was driving while his license was suspended. Also, Uniontown, Fayette County, was killed yesterday when he lost control of his motorcycle and was thrown into the path of a car on Saw Mill Run Boulevard in the West End. Homes insured minus inspection Deluged with applications for mine subsidence insurance, the Department of Environmental Resources has approved coverage for a number of homes without inspecting them, a department official said today. "It's not unusual to have homes insured without an inspection," said Joseph Leone, chief of the Bituminous Underground Mine Permitting Section. "You can tell pretty much if severe damage previously existed." He could not say how many of those applications were approved without inspection.

any claims for previously uninspected homes would have to consider the type of structure and construction, soil and topographical conditions, landslide-prone areas, the extent of mining underneath the structure, and previous subsidence activity in the general area. Leone said the department has a backlog of some 5,832 unprocessed claims as of April 28. He said about 5,000 to 6,000 subsidence applications from Western Pennsylvania homeowners have been received since early March. Leone said the department has been swamped with applications since March 11, when mine subsidence damaged 14 uninsured homes in the 800 block of Bryn Mawr Road in the Hill District After the incident which generated extensive publicity, Leone said the department received more than 5,000 requests for coverage from Western Pennsylvania homeowners. "Each case is specific and we have to look at a number of variables with each case," he explained.

He said engineers who processed Associated Press PITTSBURGH View for two As it warms up, the Amish ventilate buggies for comfort. Opened windows offered a view for these children today on Newport Road, near Mascot, Lancaster County. Parker asks U.S. court to hear suit by Bucs Philly police hunt slasher who killed one PHILADELPHIA (UPI) Heavy police patrols are roaming the city's sprawling Fairmount Park seeking a slasher who has killed one man and seriously injured another. Police say they believe the attacker considers himself a protector of women and have issued warnings to couples to use care.

Police said the man in both instances approached couples and asked his victims, "What are you doing with that girl." Police said in one incident late Wednesday, Troy Nichols, 18, of Philadelphia had left his car and was strolling with his girlfriend near Strawberry Mansion. Nichols was slashed on the neck and was taken to the Medical College of Pennsylvania where 30 stitches were used to close his wound. Shortly before midnight Wednesday, police said, they believe the same man approached another couple near Smith's Playground, about a five minutes walk from the place where Nichols was attacked. In that incident Brian Hayes, 23, also of Philadelphia was stabbed in the heart. His girlfriend, Crystal Fry, 21, fled and called police.

Body described Coroner Joshua Perper has released a description of a man whose body was found Wednesday in a wooded area near the 4500 block of Home Rule Street in Hazelwood. He said the man was white, in his early 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with medium-length brown hair. He showed evidence of dental repairs. The man was wearing a T-shirt with horizontal stripes of tan, black and a reddish shade. The brand name on the shirt tag was "Mojave." He wore light tan or off-white corduroy trousers, size iVi white tennis shoes with the brand name "Matt Andrews," and white tube socks, one with yellow and black stripes and the other blue stripes.

Perper said an electric cord had been looped around the victim's waist about three times. The badly decomposed body had been covered with branches and twigs in a manner that leads police to suspect foul play. Former Pirate outfielder Dave Parker today asked U.S. District Court to assume jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed by the team's new owners in an attempt to avoid paying him $5.3 million in deferred salary. Pirates Associates sued Parker last month in Common Pleas Court for breach of contract, charging he "misrepresented his physical condition," ''fraudulently concealed" his "improper, illegal and heavy use of cocaine" and failed to maintain his health by doing so.

The suit seeks no damages, only release from the deferred payments the team agreed to in a five-year contract with Parker covering the 1979 to 1983 seasons. In his petition, Parker, now with the Cincinnati Reds, said he is an Ohio resident and Pennsylvania courts are limited in their jurisdiction by the state boundary. Parker said federal court has original authority to rule on disputes involving the Uniform Players Contract, which is part of the basic agreement between major league teams and the Players' Association. Such agreements, he said, fall within the guidelines of the Labor Management Relations Act, a federal law. Parker and the Reds are in Pittsburgh for a three-game series against the Pirates, beginning tonight at Three Rivers Stadium.

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Reservations close Friday, June 20. Ha The Pittsburgh Press Boats Jrom page CI simply and do it from the north portico" of the White House, said Speakes, who on several occasions earlier in the week reported that Reagan had no plans to join the hunger-fighting extravaganza. Bail $3.5 million for drug suspect SCRANTON (AP) A Pike County man held on charges he smuggled $50 million in drugs into northeast Pennsylvania has had his bail set at $3.5 million. U.S. Judge Richard P.

Conaboy set the bail for Frederick Luytjes, 43, who is described by federal officials as the leader of one of the nation's 10 largest drug importing rings. that snakes 4,152 miles from New York's Battery Park, in sight of the Statue of Liberty, south to Washington, D.C., up to Chicago, down through Tennessee and then over to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into Los Angeles. David Fulton, a spokesman for the Hands Across America national office in Los Angeles, estimated yesterday that between 2.5 million and 3 million people have signed up for the event. About 5.5 million are needed. Fulton said he still thinks the goal will be reached.

In Maryland, where organizers are looking for 32,000 more volunteers to stand along a rural route dotted with dairy farms, the use of cows is being considered to complete the line. The Coca-Cola Co. and the Geor gia Textile Manufacturers Association announced yesterday they were contributing 2,000 miles of red-and-white polypropylene rope in case there were gaps in the line. President and Mrs. Reagan, along with 225 members of their staff including Secret Service agents and their families, will participate in the event from the north lawn of the White House, a spokesman said.

Deputy press secretary Larry Speakes said Reagan, who asserted this week that people in this country are hungry mainly because they lack knowledge of assistance programs, decided today to join in the event after talking it over with his wife Nancy, daughter, Maureen, and her husband, Dennis Revell, last night. "The president said he'd like to participate if he could do it k3 Mixed verdict A Fayette County man has been acquitted of charges that he sexually assaulted an Oakland woman last May at her apartment, but was convicted of assaulting and threatening her with a knife. James Cornelius, 35, of Union-town, a convicted sex offender on parole from Ohio, faces a maximum 10-to 20-year prison sentence as a result of the conviction. 1 A Common Pleas Court jury de-1 liberated about six hours over two days before declaring Cornelius guilty of aggravated assault, possession of the instruments of crime, terroristic threats and theft. He was acquitted on a charge of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

The woman testified she was forced at knifepoint to perform a series of bizarre sexual acts. Ault to lead Bishop James M. Ault, head of Western Pennsylvania's 230,000 United Methodists, will lead clergy and lay members to Washington, D.C., June 16 to urge economic sanctions against South Africa. Ault, president of United Methodist National Council of Bishops, said he would provide area United Methodist pastors with special worship material for observance of Soweto Day June 15, the Sunday preceding the 10th anniversary of an incident in which South African police opened fire on a crowd of 20,000 student protesters. 0 Arson blamed in fire that killed 2 Lottery winners Here are winning lottery numbers drawn Thursday, May 22, 1986: Pennsylvania Daily: 373 Pennsylvania Big Four: 5161 Ohio Daily: 833 Ohio Pick 4: 6098 gue said the woman, Nikki's sister, escaped through a window shortly after the fire started about 4 a.m.

yesterday, and was unsuccessful when she tried to get back inside to save the children. The children were pronounced dead at Jamieson Hospital. Hogue said officials have determined the fire was started Officials have identified the victims of a fire, believed to have been set by an arsonist, in New Bedford, Lawrence County, as Nikki Zets, 13, and her 20-month-old nephew, Bryce Zets. Injured was Stacy Zets, 22, the mother of Bryce, who was treated at Jamieson Hospital in New Castle. Pulaski Police Chief William Ho-.