The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 9

The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. www.delawareonline.com FOCUS: New Castle County police reach out to the southern half of the county with advisory council D3 Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 Section Police report Obituaries D3 B4, D5 News tips for Local: 324-2774 or njnewsnewsjournal.com CityState editor Jean Buchanan, 324-2882 Unsolved murder Dorothy Donovan was murdered in her Kent County home in 1991. Killer familiar to victim, FBI profilers insist then-41- year-old 17" Elderly woman stabbed in 1991 did not struggle, they say OUU, V11CU1CB W. Holden, who lived on the farm.

But two FBI criminal profilers who specialize in sexual homicide of elderly women re 'I after learning about it from a Delaware State Police detective in training at the FBI Academy "Some stranger did not break into the house, murder her, and leave," said Mark Safarik, of the FBI's Behavior Science Unit in Quantico, Va. "This is someone who knows the victim, knows her well, and knows that they can come here and she will be the only victim in the house." At the time, investigators had distributed a composite of the hitchhiker. The story drew wide attention, appearing on a segment of TV's "Unsolved Mysteries." But police got few tips from the publicity Safarik read Donovan's case file in June. He and partner Mary Allen OToole then went to Donovan's farmhouse in October, deciding to walk through the remote, century-old building late at night just as the killer did. Safarik said he entered the pitch-black house using the door police have always suspected the killer used a back door with a small hole in one windowpane.

The female trooper who was the first one to go into the house a decade ago remembered noticing that the hole was so small she could not have fit her fist through to reach the inside door knob, as a robber might have. Donovan always kept the doors locked at night Safarik said almost every floorboard creaked as he made his way toward and up the stairs. See SLAYING B2 Kent County r3t .41 more than two dozen times in the second -floor bedroom of the farmhouse where she lived alone on 160 acres east of Harrington. Investigators initially believed the killer was a hitchhiker, who hours before her death on June 23, 1991, had gotten a ride and then fought with Donovan's By TERRI SANGINITI Staff reporter The last pair of eyes 70-year-old Dorothy May Donovan saw as her attacker stabbed her to death a decade ago belonged to someone she knew, investigators now say The twice-widowed grandmother was stabbed Sussex I C0Wly4r-Kent! Dorothy May Donovan i- A 1 T-T 2Mll.ES cently concluded that Donovan knew her killer. The profilers took an interest in the case The News Journal Fellow employee a suspect in waitress's slaying mmmm Got rvfaav utm "i Minner taps environmental expert to lead development OJT Kj JU kJJJbiijf By PATRICK JACKSON Dover Bureau reporter Gov.

Ruth Ann Minner on Monday named New Castle environmental consultant John D. Wik to head the Delaware Economic Development Office. Wik, 51, is the last Cabinet-level appointment Minner is expected to announce until her technology task force delivers recommendations by June on what to do with the Office v. The News JoumaVWILLIAM BRETZGER Delaware State Police officers walk outside the Manor Family Restaurant near New Castle, where a waitress was stabbed to death Monday morning. The suspect, an employee who turned the knife on himself after stabbing the woman, was listed In fair condition In Christiana Hospital.

Woman fatally stabbed in restaurant New Castle woman stabbed to death at Manor Family Restaurant "She wants us to focus not only on bringing jobs to Delaware, but also on attracting jobs that maintain our quality of life and are environmentally friendly." John D. Wik Minner inauguration is today in Dover Al the business community," Minner said. "I expect that to be an asset as we aim to remain an attractive state to start, expand or relocate a business." Wik was a finalist to head the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control in 1999, but former Gov. Tom Carper ended up choosing Nicholas DiPasquale, whom Minner has renominated for the job. If Wik is named to head the economic development office, he said, he would try to encourage redeveloping old industrial sites, known as "brownfields" in the development business.

"Brownfield sites are located near existing transportation and utilities and there is a good work force nearby," he said. 'Also, redeveloping brownfields has the effect of helping us preserve our greenfields our open spaces and that is important to this administration." Besides luring new businesses to the state, Wik said, the department must work closely with the existing business community. He said that's especially true in uncertain times when questions are being asked about the fate of some, such as General Motors Daimler-Chrysler, and Hercules Inc. Reach Patrick Jackson at 678-4274 or pJacksoNdelawareonline.coin. I -At 10 a.m.

She was confronted by the man and they argued, police said. Bettie Smith of Wilmington was eating there when she heard a commotion, she said. Smith said she saw the manager walk over to the two and try to calm them. Patron Barbara Quay, of Beaver Brook Crest, said she heard Krafchick scream, "No, I'm not leaving." Then, police alleged, the man followed Krafchick into the restaurant's kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed her before turning the knife on himself. "They were in the back, and the next thing we heard was her screaming," Quay said.

Another customer, Linda Grodzicki of Newark, said two men rushed into the kitchen after hearing the screams. Cpl. Walter Newton of the state police said one of the men subdued the suspect and held him until help arrived. "It was just very scary," Grodzicki said. "It was very fast" Investigators recovered the knife at the scene, Newton said.

Read) Terri Sanginltl at 322771 or ttawinMdetawareonllM.corn. By TERRI SANGINITI Staff reporter A 35-year-old waitress was stabbed to death Monday morning in the kitchen of a 24-hour family restaurant on U.S. 13 near New Castle, police said. State police said Dawn R. Krafchick of New Castle was treated at the scene by county paramedics for stab wounds to the torso, arms and abdomen.

She died shortly after arriving at Christiana Hospital. State police said Krafchick was stabbed by another restaurant employee, who was hospitalized Monday night Police New Castle were continuing to investigate. The News Journal is withholding the man's name because no charges have been filed. He was treated for a self-inflicted laceration to the arm, said Mark Logemann, New Castle County paramedic spokesman. He was listed in fair condition after surgery at Christiana Hospital.

About a dozen patrons were eating breakfast at the Manor Family Restaurant at 800 N. Du Pont Highway when Krafchick arrived for work just after Usnor Y-vmai aw. Wilmington 'T 7 of Information Services. Wik said Minner's decision to nominate him underscores the governor's commitment to environmental issues. "She wants us to focus not only on bringing jobs to Delaware," he said, "but also on attracting jobs that maintain our quality of life and are environmentally friendly." Currently, the economic development director earns $98,400 annually.

In its recommendations to the General Assembly, the Delaware Compensation Commission said that salary should go to $101,900. Wik's appointment requires approval by the state Senate. Currently, Wik is president of Wik Associates a New Castle-based environmental consulting, construction and remediation company he formed in 1984. He is on the board of the Committee of 100, the board of Junior Achievement of Delaware, an adjunct professor of geology at the University of Delaware and the city of New Castle's planning commission chairman. During the 1970s, Wik was director of the Coastal Sussex Water Quality Planning Program and he is a past chairman of the state Chamber of Commerce's environmental committee.

Minner said Wik's ties to the business world also are important qualifications for the job. "John has 28 years of experience in working with College Few The News Journal Crime, drugs top issues for candidates in special election and was re-elected in November without opposition to represent the 2nd District, which includes neighborhoods in northeast Wilmington. Plant, 70, died of a heart attack last month, leading to Saturday's special election. Hearings are planned today and Wednesday in two lawsuits seeking to delay the vote. Democrats nominated Hazel Plant to succeed her In the months before Al Plant died, he was interviewed by state Auditor R.

Thomas Wagner and FBI agents who are investigating the legality of $1.8 million in state Suburban Street Fund payments made by nine lawmakers to the city of Wilmington in the last three years. The city used the money to pay for street lighting and transportation-related debt. The city money that would have been used for that was used for grants to political, religious and community groups.The city gave the lawmakers broad power to designate which groups got grants. No charges have been filed in the investigation. Plant gave the city more than $633,000 of the $1.8 million, more than any other lawmaker, according to state records.

See ELECTION B5 husband. Carroll is the Republican nominee, and Brown is the Libertarian candidate. The three candidates said the issues facing the district are crime, drug abuse, unemployment and health care. Brown and Carroll said another issue is $80,000 in state tax money that went to a political group Hazel Plant is affiliated with. Al Plant authorized the payment By ADAM TAYLOR Staff reporter In a special election scheduled for Saturday, Hazel Plant will face the same two candidates her late husband defeated four months ago when he won re-election to the state House of Representatives.

Rep. Al O. Plant Sr. beat Beatrice Patton Carroll and Robert E. Brown in September's Democratic primary Mascitti stvle Li response to the readers' letters give a vicious criminal three squares a day and a safe night's sleep forever, along with media columnists, aggravate the problem.

I'll lighten up with a germane quote from Henny Young-man: The convict going to the electric chair called his lawyer for some advice. The barrister replied: "Don't sit down." J.L. Hollowell Dear J.L: It just goes to show you people always complain about lawyers, but what are they supposed to do if clients don't follow their advice? OKAI, I've been motivated to write you. I found your story on the danger of students choking on fish, possibly as a result of intoxication interesting. Possibly the college of marine studies could do research on fish that have been soaked in alcohol before consumption? BillKnarr Newark Dear Mr.

Knarr: You will never lack for work at a U.S. university. Good luck with the grant application. Mascrtti's opinio column uppean Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach Al at 324-2866 or amascmidelawareonliiN.cini.

Dear Dave: Thank you, but please don't tell my boss. I'm trying to work my way up to "achiever," and getting sacked for conservative sympathies would forever mar my resume. Al: I am responding to your column re: death penalty. Somehow we have to balance the need to avoid dispatching innocent citizens with the need to prevent heinous criminals from striking again. Perhaps we best err on cleaning them out as rapidly as possible.

"Bleeding heart" liberals who want to great at ir, all they ever take is left turns. Dear Al: Finally you are starting to swing in the conservative direction. Do you realize this tutoring program you are talking about, where only the underachievers get any help at all and the achievers are left out in the cold, must have been used as a blueprint for Al Gore's targeted tax scheme? Both are typical liberal tactics, punish the achievers and reward the underachievers! Glad to have you on our side for once. Dave Deal Time to answer reader mail and e-mail, much of which appears to have spent some time in overlooked bags at the Edge-moor Post Office. Thanks to all who wrote.

Dear Al: A liberal accusing conservatives of not telling the whole truth? This is Christmas, not April Fools' Day. Bill PS. Obviously it is a prerequisite that a person be a left-wing liberal Democrat to write for The News Journal. Dear Bill: True. I had to renounce membership in the So- Al Mascitti cialist Workers Party when I took the Liberal Media Elite oath.

Which brings up an interesting point: Why are there no journalists driving on the NASCAR circuit? We should be.