Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 34

Local News 3b TIMES FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2003 esian for massacre draws 12-wear sentence 3 Having pleaded guilty to planning attacks on Muslims and mosques, he is sentenced to federal prison for 12 years and seven months. escape, he would obscure his license plate with mud. The plan foiled, some say, only by a fluke will send Goldstein to federal prison for 12 years and seven months. Citing the fear Goldstein's crime had engendered in the Muslim community, U.S. District Judge James Moody imposed the term Thursday, the maximum under sentencing guidelines.

In a choked voice, Goldstein, 38, read a prepared statement saying he "deeply and genuinely" apologized to the Muslim community. "I was so very lost at the time, but I take full responsibility for what I've done," he said, asking for forgiveness. Prosecutor Colleen Murphy-Davis pointed to Goldstein's extensive plan to attack the Islamic Society of Pinellas County, which he schemed for more than a year and laid out in a detailed "Mission Template" found in his townhome. Investigators found that Goldstein had been stockpiling an elaborate arsenal, including 20 homemade bombs, a 50-caliber rifle, handguns, and antiarmor rockets. They also found a list he had compiled of 50 Islamic centers across Florida.

Defense attorney Myles Malman said Goldstein suffered from "a serious mental illness, a raging mental illness." He said Goldstein, once a respected doctor, "threw everything away" in his obsession with guns and bombs, an obsession that focused on Muslims after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001. Goldstein enjoyed firing guns and detonating explosives at a friend's farm, the lawyer said. He said Goldstein's plan was not to kill Muslims but to destroy the Islamic center, "to move the dirt around." Dr. Bruce Welch, a psychiatrist who has examined Goldstein more than a dozen times, testified that Goldstein's blueprint for the attack was "unrealistic, cartoonish" and "outrageously extensive." To the psychiatrist that suggested the plan had the makings of a fantasy, though Goldstein at times believed he could carry it out Far from an idle fantasy, the prosecutor said, Goldstein's plan involved "real people, real locations, real bombs." His target was not an individual Muslim, but "an entire population of people." Investigators found Goldstein's weapons stash after his then-wife, Kristi, contacted deputies in August to report that her husband had threatened to kill her. Goldstein pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to violate civil rights, attempting to damage religious properly and possession of unregistered firearms.

The judge sentenced him to the Federal Medical Center in Burner, N.C., a high-security prison with mental health facilities. By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD Times Staff Writer TAMPA Robert J. Goldstein planned the massacre of Muslims in minute detail. The Seminole podiatrist would attack the mosque like a commando, using Napalm and grenades, guns and knives, booby traps and bolt cutters. Muslims who fled the smoking building would die tripping over a mine in the parking lot If necessary, he would kill them face-to-face.

To hide his fingerprints, he would wear Kev-lar gloves and wipe down all the bullets. To Habitat for the humongous 'V' 'T A 'ir 'I-- IXX photo STEFANIEBOYAR Tambo, left, a male white rhinoceros, playfully spars with female rhino Mlelani on Thursday morning in their new 26-acre habitat at Busch Gardens' Serengeti Plain. Tambo, Mlelani and another female white rhino, Kisiri, were relocated to the new habitat two weeks ago. The three rhinos came to Busch Gardens in 2001 from Kruger National Park in South Africa. The white rhino is the second-largest land mammal after the elephant, and uses a shovel-like mouth with a wide lip to graze on grasses.

There are fewer than 1 2,000 white rhinos in the wild, and fewer than 1 60 live in North American zoos. Visitors to Busch Gardens can see the rhinos by taking the Serengeti Express Train, the Skyride and the Rhino Rally off-road attraction. laying victim finally has a name "I was so very lost at the time, but I take full responsibility for what I've done," said RobertJ. Goldstein. Abuse victims cirowd shelter Discovering a sudden rise in the number of abuse victims it aids, the Spring of Tampa Bay asks for help.

By D0NG-PHU0NG NGUYEN Times Staff Writer TAMPA More victims of domestic violence are seeking refuge this surti-mer at Hillsborough County's shelter for battered spouses than at any time i the past four years. On Thursday, the Spring of Tamt a Bay issued a plea for public help, saying the shelter was running out of room. It is having to place victims and the ir families in hotels and look for assistance from other shelters around the region "We don't know what's going on said shelter manager Jim Brace. "It's a very, very strange experience." The Spring offers a safe haven victims and families. It is one of eight )f its kind stretching from Sarasota to Po counties.

Despite having 102 beds --more than any other shelter in the region a sudden jump in the number Df clients has caught officials off guard. Last Monday, 80 men, women arid children were staving at the Spring. By Friday, there were 102, Brace said, Police said they don't know why there has been a recent rise in domestic violence cases, but Brace speculated that the school calendar could be contributing to the surge. Many victims have children, and when school is out, they may witness the abuse. "They don't want their ki4s growing up in this anymore," Brace said.

Often, the abused also plan their escape, opting to wait until their children complete the school year. 'We're going to do whatever we have to do, even if we have to start dipping into operating expenses," said spokeswoman Tuesdi Fenter. "Keeping people safe is our top priority." No one is turned away. Overflow is sent to local hotels, which have agreements with the shelter. The organization needs money, tickets for activities, vouchers for hotel rooms and in-kind donations of diapers, baby items, toiletries, personal hygiene items and twin sheet sets.

In-kind donations can be dropped off at the Spring's warehouse at 209 Willow Ave. in Tampa. Money can be sent to the Spring of Tampa Bay, P.O. Box 4772, Tampa Fl 33677 or by credit card by calling 247-5433, ext. 322.

pipeline to the Port of Manatee, where it will then be transferred onto barges headed for the gulf. Construction of the pipeline was completed this week, but DEP must conduct safety inspections before the project begins. Wells said. DEP is ironing out a contract that will detail the scope of work for a citizen-selected independent scientist who will also monitor the disposal. Mitchell Roffer, the Miami-based commercial oceanographer selected by the fishing industry to conduct the review, attended Thursday's meeting at Pin-ey Point.

DEP is considering Roffer's proposal for the dumping to begin as far out as 100 miles from shore. He and other scientists worry that dumping the wastewater too close to a shifting, circular current in the gulf could earn' the treated wastewater to sensitive area where fis are likely to spawn. For 22 years, detectives tried to identify a body found near the Gandy Bridge. A chance meeting in May gave them the break they needed. By CHRIS TISCH Times Staff Writer ST.

PETERSBURG Twenty-two years ago, a dead man was found floating near the Gandy Bridge with a gunshot wound to the neck and barbells tied to his legs. He had been in the water several days, which made his fingerprints poor. He carried no identification. A name had been written on the inside of his shorts and shirt, but the writing was faded. A dental plate in his mouth had what appeared to be a Social Security number engraved in it, but the federal government said no one had been issued that number.

The man remained an anonymous homicide victim for two decades. But relying on sophisticated database searches by computer experts with the federal government, Pinellas sheriff detectives have recently identified the man as a U.S. Army veteran who was working the carnival circuit before his death. His name was Steven John Clancy. He was 25 when he was killed.

His family members, who live in Massachusetts, never filed a missing persons report because of his transient lifestyle. Drawn-out divorce has hurt church The divorce hearing for the Living Water Church pastor and his wife begins. By JEFF TESTERMAN Times StaffWritex DADE CITY The hearing in the bitter, drawn-out divorce of Living Water Church Pastor Ron Clark and his wife, Belinda, began Thursday with accusations concerning infidelity and pornography and ended with testimony about the perilous financial condition of the church. "We are in bad shape," testified Mel-vin A Myer, a financial planner who is vice president of the Tampa church's board of trustees. "There will be no payroll this month." Even with layoffs and pay cuts, Myer said, the church has $118,000 in past due debt and a $19,500 monthly mortgage payment it can't meet.

The reason for the church's cash crunch? Parishioners, put off by the fingerpointing between Ronald and Belinda Clark, are seeking salvation elsewhere and in droves. Myer said membership at the church off Interstate 4 had fallen from 1,286 at the beginning of the year to 444 by the end of May, a staggering drop of 66 percent. Pastor Ron, as he is known to members of the 15-year-old nondenomina-tional church, signalled his plan to divorce his wife in February, according to his sister, Linda Gestrin. In tearful testimony, Gestrin said Ronald Clark called her and said Belinda "had gone crazy" after a hysterectomy. He said he intended to sell the church, take his ministry to Africa and have funds funneled to him by Myer, Gestrin said.

Belinda and the couple's two children would end up with "half of nothing," Gestrin recalled Ronald Clark telling her. The pastor filed for divorce in March, one day after the Ijving Water Church's board fired Belinda Clark from her $70,000 job as associate pastor and principal of the church school. Then on May 20, at a gathering in Tampa of investigators who work "cold cases," detectives got their break. Officials had invited Frank Cioffi, resident agent in charge of the Social Security Administration Office of Investigations in Clearwater. Cioffi told the investigators that, with modern computer technology, his agency could help them with unsolved cases.

Sgt Mike Ring of the Sheriffs Office homicide unit thought of the body found near Gandy. He pulled Cioffi aside. A few days later, Ring was in Cioffi's office, providing him with all the information on the case. Cioffi summoned the help of agency computer specialists in Baltimore. Cioffi asked them to use factors to whittle the list: A white man between 20 and 40 who had not earned wages since 1981.

And who perhaps had a name similar to Claucy or Clancy. And within a couple of days, they had it down to one: Steven John Clancy. Detectives determined Clancy had been arrested in Tampa 16 days before his body was found. investigators culled fingerprints from that arrest report and compared them to prints taken from the body. There was enough there to confirm: It was a match.

Now comes an even bigger challenge: chasing a killer from 22 years ago. "It's pretty great strides just to identify him after 22 years," Beining said. "Now let's see if we can solve it." water quality and the treatment And they are going to do plenty of independent reviews. They're really addressing a lot of problems at this point," he said. The wastewater is being stored in an unstable earthen mound at Port Manatee.

State officials worry that untreated water could spill from the mound, which is nearly full, and pollute Tampa Bay. The threat mounts with the start of hurricane season and this week's heavy rain. The Tampa Bay area has absorbed about 20 inches of rain since January. Each inch of rain adds 12-million gallons to the storage stacks Wells said. Under the state's plan, barges will disperse the polluted water over a 19.500-square-mile area.

The wastewater will be dumped where water reaches a depth of about 130 feet. The plan calls for the treated wastewater to be pumK'd through a 2-mile-lnng Steven John Clancy's body was found floating near the Gandy Bridge, with two barbells tied to his legs. He was 25 at the time of his death. But now, detectives will begin trying to solve a 22-year-old slaying. "The investigation starts now," said Detective James Beining, who has been assigned the case.

Clancy was a native of Arlington, Mass. He was in the Army from 1972 to 1975. He tried to hold down a steady job, but working 9 to 5 wasn't for him. He joined the carnival in the mid 1970s. Clancy went home for his parents' 25th wedding anniversary in 1979.

They saw him again in January 1981. That was the last time. About a month later, an angler casting from the shore near the Gandy Bridge saw a body in the water. It floated upright, as if standing, because of the barbells. Investigators found writing on the inside of the man's shorts and shirt It looked like a name, but it was faint.

They thought it said Claucy. The name didn't lead anywhere. Investigators also noted that the man had an upper dental plate. A nine-digit number thought to be a Social Security number was on the plate. But it also led nowhere.

monitoring the disposal through GPS and satellite monitoring linkups," said DEP spokeswoman Deena Wells. Disposal of 534-million gallons of treated wastewater from the defunct Pin-ey Point phosphate plant is set to begin within two weeks and end in November. DEP will use satellite imagery and a sophisticated tracking buoy in the proposed dumping area, which starts 40 miles offshore and extends up to 125 miles west into the gulf. The buoy will track gulf currents and provide other data from the disposal area. Wells said.

Fishing experts were encouraged after a meeting Thursday with DEP officials in Manatee County. "They gave us a lot more information that they didn't have before," said Bob Spaeth, executive director of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association. "I feel a lot more comfortable with the Deal on wastewater monitor eases dumping fears A state staffer will keep an eye on Gulf of Mexico water quality as discharges are made miles from land. By CANDACE RONDEAUX Times Staff Writer State environmental officials agreed Thursday to step up their monitoring of the disposal of millions of gallons of wastewater into the Gulf of Mexico. Following weeks of aggressive lobbying by the fishing industry, environmentalists and state politicians, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection agreed to put an agency staffer on the disposal barges to watch for changes in gulf water quality.

"We'll have a permanent staff member on the barge at all times ancf they 11 be.