Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 3

Burn victim faces up to 56 years (AP) A suburban Pittsburgh man who was severely scarred in an arson fire faces up to 56 years in prison for the rape of a 4-year-old girl he was babysitting. Raymond Steele, 27, of Swissvale was convicted by an Allegheny County jury Friday of rape, statutory rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Steele and James Winterbottom, 24, of North Versailles were accused of sexually assaulting the girl in 1988 at her North Braddock home. Sentencing was set for Nov. 16.

Steele's attorney, Kevin Sasinoski, said he would file post-trial motions to try to have the verdict reversed. Common Pleas Court Judge Cheryl Allen Craig ordered Steele held in the county jail's medical unit. He will be treated at West Penn Hospital for burns he received while out on bond. Steele was burned over 50 percent of his body in a house fire March 3 in Turtle Creek that killed an adult and five children. Monday, September 17, 1990 Page 3 DISTANT QUASAR This photo, taken by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, shows four images of a very distant quasar, G2237-0305, which have been "multiple-imaged" by a' relatively nearby galaxy acting as a gravitational lens.

The quasar is about eight billion light years away from and the galaxy is 400 million light years away, 20 times closer, the light from the quasar is bent in its path by the gravitational field of the galaxy. (AP Laserphoto) Strangled student's lover dies after attempted suicide LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (AP) The homosexual lover of a slain Lock Haven University student died less than two days after hanging himself Entire Stock ATHLETIC SHOES OFF 734 Phila. Indiana OPEN THURS. FRI.

TIL 9 P.M. in an apartment stairwell, authorities said. Michael A. McGarvey, 19, died at 11:18 p.m. Saturday, a spokesman at the Geisinger Medical Center said.

An autopsy is to be performed today. McGarvey was resuscitated early Friday by rescue workers who found him hanging by a rope in what police called an attempted suicide. When interviewed earlier that HOMEOWNERS tOW COST INSURANCE Wilfred E. Helwig Insurance Agency 465-5514 Call Bill Trimarchi Today 465-5659 CflQPMnQT CONSUMER "UnLlYlUOl DISCOUNTCO. We Help You Help Things Happen PHONE-A-LOAN 558 Phila.

Indiana, Pa. Qbt Andrew's Gburt You are welcome to our WEDNESDAY OPEN HOUSE 10:00 A.M. 2:00 P.M. Presbyterian Homes Inc. 1155 Indian Springs Road 349-5615 or 349-4870 week, McGarvey said he was the homosexual lover of Michael J.

Houseknecht, state police said. The partially decomposed body of Houseknecht, 19, of Hughesville, was found Wednesday night in his dormitory room. An autopsy determined he had been strangled on Sept. 8. A black necktie was found tied loosely around his neck, police said.

When interviewed after the body was found, McGarvey told investigators he had returned a black necktie to Houseknecht on Sept. 6, according to affidavits filed by state police. McGarvey, a freshman at the university, told police he had gone to Houseknecht's room four times after returning the tie, but there was no response to his knock, the documents said. Police and Clinton County District Attorney Ted McKnight have refused to comment on whether McGarvey was a suspect in Houseknecht's death. McKnight said investigators were waiting for laboratory reports, which he said would not be available for about three weeks.

Houseknecht and McGarvey had lived together from March until Labor Day at the house where McGarvey hanged himself, the affidavits said. During a search of McGarvey's home Friday, two city police officers found a note signed "the Sandman" and a picture of Houseknecht, the affidavits said. The note said, "It was his time to pay the The Sandman. P.S. The Sandman will bring perfect silence to the world through eternal Enjoy the Silence," according to the documents.

McKnight would not comment on the note. City Police Sgt. J.C. Frazier said he discovered another note in the bedroom that made references to "being in love with Mike" and "joining him." A neighbor of McGarvey's told police that Houseknecht came to her home twice in July following arguments he had with McGarvey, according to police records. She said the first time Houseknecht came he was sobbing, bleeding from the mouth and had a welt under the right eye.

He claimed the injuries had been inflicted by McGarvey, she told police. She said Houseknecht appeared a few weeks later with cuts on his arms and bruises on his legs, which he claimed he suffered during an argument with McGarvey and by punching a window, the documents said. FARMERS PRIDE WHOLE FRESH CHICKEN BREASTS SB 8 81 81 8 BBBBlBBBfl LAMANTU'S THE AREA'S FINEST GOURMET SPECIALTY STORE Corner of Market Spring Streets, Blairsville, 459-8099 9-7; Sat. 9-5; Sun. 10-4 LEAN C.A.B.

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3 95 FRESH TUNA FILLETS LB. 1.99 BY PC. OR SLICED TO ORDER FRIftH FtlHCH A ITALIAN MUD A ROUi lYIRYDAY WntMi PaWMMng Comptnr. Accusations, lawsuits grow against Cumberland Farms PHILADELPHIA (AP) accusations and lawsuits against Cumberland Farms Inc. continue to grow.

An attorney in Fort Lauderdale, said she plans to file a class action suit today in Broward County on behalf of about 25 former employees of the convenience store chain. Lynn Sharon said the employees were falsely accused of stealing and then threatened and coerced into signing confessions. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday that records it obtained and corroborated in interviews with former employees showed that Cumberland Farms attempted to question 30,903 cashiers as part of a systematic effort to recover inventory losses by demanding money from employees accused of theft. Virtually all were fired, the newspaper reported. Fourteen former Cumberland Farms cashiers have filed a federal lawsuit, accusing the company of extortion, fraud, racketeering, malicious prosecution and wire and mail fraud.

The company, based in Canton, denies the allegations. Cumberland Farms kept at least two sets of records on each employee questioned from at least 1976 to 1989, according to the Inquirer. One set of records assigned a serial number to identify the employee accused, and listed the reason for questioning, his or her employment status and whether the accused paid any money to the firm. "Each person fired was given a number," Edward F. Breau, a former Cumberland Farms security official, told the newspaper.

"They kept excellent records. They were kept by number." Breau said he left the company after refusing to question an employ- President Lyndon Johnson stunned the country March 31,1968, by announcing in a broadcast address that he would not run for another term of office. ee without evidence. Since Aug. 1, the newspaper has reported that 275 former Cumberland Farms employees have said they were falsely accused of theft.

They said that company security officials would take them into a back room of the store and threaten them until they signed confessions. A spokesman for Cumberland Farms, Foster G. Macrides, said the company would not comment on the newspaper's findings because of the pending litigation. The trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 3 in U.S.

District Court in Camden. Three former Cumberland Farms loss-prevention specialists told the Inquirer that the company had a policy to coerce employees into signing confessions of theft, even though the company often had no evidence in those cases. Two of the security officials said they were to obtain confessions at least two-thirds of the time. Cumberland Farms is one of the nation's largest convenience store chains, with 1,200 stores and hundreds of gasoline stations in 11 states. We wish to express our gratitude to our many friends, neighbors and relatives for the flowers, masses, and messages of condolences.

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