Daily Hampshire Gazette from Northampton, Massachusetts • 15

WEDNESDAY JUNE 2 2004 NEW ENGLAND DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE B7 Third woman missing in area since February The Whitney disappearance comes in the aftermath of the February disappearance of Maura Murray a University of Massachusetts student who had a minor single vehicle traffic accident in Haverhill NH On March 19 Brianna Maitland of Sheldon disappeared after leaving her job in Montgomery a minor single vehicle traffic accident in Haverhill NH On March 19 Brianna Maitland of Sheldon disappeared after leaving her Job in Montgomery Haverhill is roughly 100 miles from Montgomery and Johnson is between the two about 26 miles from Montgomery seen any cases like this in Marcoux said Marcoux says Vermont investigators will meet with New Hampshire detectives to see if any additional links can be found state police are in the process of contacting them There is a meeting being scheduled with investigators from the three cases just to make sure not missing anything" he MONTPELIER VL AP) -Investigators in Wnnoot plan to meet with their counterparts in New Hampshire to compare notes after the third woman went missing in the region since February a sheriff said The Lamoille County department is working with the Vermont State Police in their search for Jodie Whitney said Ijmoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux The only common thread between the casea is the vehicles said Marcoux got three women missing and in each case there has been an abandoned vehicle Marcoux said Tuesday The latest case began last Thursday when the husband of S5-year-old Jodie Whitney of Johnson reported his wife missing Marcoux said Whitney never arrived at her Job on Thursday morning at the Stowe-flake Resort in Stowe individual is a very reliable person She miss work never late She has a supervisory position She has a 3-yearold daughter at home" Marcoux said is very out of character for car was found abandoned the next day Marcoux reveal where the car was found other than to say it was within five miles of her home Whitney is described as being 5-feet 3-inches tall and weighing 110-pounds She has shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes Marcoux said he called the Vermont State Police and investigators started working on the case immediately is a Joint investigation with the state police and if there are a lot of similarities we are going to know Marcoux said are pouring resources into it right from the get The Whitney disappearance comes in the aftermath of the February disappearance of Maura Murray University of Massachusetts student who had Marcoux said it appeared to be coincidence that mother Cheryl Peters was shot to death in Morrisville in 1994 No one has been charged in that case Visiting priest accused of misconduct SPRINGFIELD (AP) A visiting Nigerian priest who worked as a chaplain at Baystate Medical Coder has been accused of sexual misconduct and barred from performing any ministiy within the Springfield Diocese church officials said Tuesday The allegation against the Rev Anctaew Dodo 48 was made by an adult The incident reportedly happened last year and was not connected to work at Baystate according to Mark Dupont a spokesman for the diocese Dodo a priest from the Diocese of Kaduna Nigeria was hired as a chaplain at Baystate in 2002 He was given permission by the Springfield Diocese to perform the fbnetions of a priest at the hospital and in parishes on an as-needed basis Dodo who lives at the Our Laty of Hope rectory in Spring-field did not immediately return a call seeking comment The Diocesan Review Board which assesses sex abuse con-plaints against priests and church employees recommended to Bishop Timothy McDonnell that the case against Dodo further Parents sue archdiocese over closing BOSTON (AP) Two mothers whose children attend the St Peter School sued the Boston Archdiocese Itiesday seeking to reclaim more than $200000 they and other parents raised for the South Boston school which will dose as part of the massive reorganization announced by church officials Their lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court is believed to be the first to stem from the announcement last week that it would dose 65 parishes and two parochial schools It claims members of the St Peter Home and School Association have raised more than $200000 for the schooL They are seeking a preliminary injunction freezing any assets that can be traced to the fund-raising said Glen Hanning-ton the lawyer representing parents Natalie Butler and Maryann Crush just felt that they have been blindsided by all this and they fett the money should go back to the said Han-nington adding that the parents want to use the money to open private school with a Catholic He said the unexpected dosing of St has sent the parents scrambling to find new schools for their children Butler and Crush allege in their lawsuit that the association solicited funds based on unambiguous representation that tiie donations were to benefit the school and only the schooL" Priest accused of abusing girls studying to become nuns no longer a priest BOSTON (AP) Robert Meffan who as a priest was accused of sexualty abusing girls studying to become nuns is no longer a priest the Archdiocese of Boston announced Tiesday Robert Meffan was accused of recruiting girls to become nuns and then molesting them according to documents in personnd file nude public in 2002 Meffan allegedly persuaded the girls to perform sexual acts as a way of progressing with their religious studies according to 1993 letters from Sister Catherine Mulkerrin to her boss the Rev John McCormack a top aide to Cardinal Bernard Law and now bishop of the Diocese of Manchester NH Meffan allegedly described himself as second coining of and encouraged the girls to brides of Meffan but intercourse one woman told church officials because he said that was for Conn begins to collect test mosquitos for West Nile virus numbers of mosquitos again this year Standing water is a primary breeding ground for the insects In humans the virus can lead to encephalitis a potentially deadly swelling of the brain Young children and older citizens are most at risk Throughout the country last year 9862 people contracted the virus and 264 of them died according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The number of human cases has risen in Connecticut There were 17 cases of the West Nile virus last year and in 2002 up from six in 2001 said William Gerrish a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health The virus killed one state resident last year a 73-year-old West Hartford woman HARTFORD Conn (AP) The first batch of mosquito traps were set up across Connecticut Tuesday as state officials began to track and test the insects for West Nile virus which they say continues to pose a serious health threat to humans will find West Nile virus said Theodore Andreadis chief medical entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven indications show that it is firmty entrenched here not only in Connecticut but in the entire United States not going to The experiment station will trap mosquitos at 91 locations across the state once a week until the end of October The tracking and testing program began Tuesday when workers set up 35 traps at 15 of the sites can collect several thousand in a night in just one trap" Andreadis said Andreadis does not anticipate finding any infected mosquitos until earty July He said the public is at greatest risk between earty August and late September Historically the coastal areas in FSirfield and New Haven counties have seen the most human cases of West Nile virus Last year the station set a record by trapping more than 250000 mosquitos and detected infected mosquitos in 31 towns was very widespread for Andreadis said Due to this abundant rain Andreadis predicted high Seventeen different mosquito species have been detected in Connecticut Andreadis said One species in particular Culex pipiens is important to watch because it spawns West Nile virus activity he said This year the New Haven station has expanded its trapping program high into tree canopies in hopes of capturing more Culex pipiens The additional traps will be set up in 12 locations in Fairfield New Haven and Hartford counties Andreadis said Since 1997 the experiment station has received $200000 in funds from the state legislature It also has received an additional $146000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention every year since 2000 Confessed killer Gary Sampson pleads guilty in NH case Scherc Scfaerr also said the plea is consistent with apparent effort to take responsibility for his arifonf if Sampson wins a new sentencing hearing there what he does here might be of same said Franklin Pierce Law Center- professor Albert Whitney a former Concord city councilor real estate developer and contractor was killed at a vacation home where he had gone to mow the lawn Railroad Street Gallery 3 arocD Arts S' Easthampton June 5 6 2004 UNFINISHED FURNITURE FUTONS BOOKCASES TABLES CUBES DESKS BEDS and much more FOR EVERY ROOM EVERY BUDGET Li WOOD 31 Union Street Easthampton 527-9993 A lacaNy swaaS 6 aparaM tatiana Open MoMA 105 Si-9-1 Child Sin C9 FREE LOCAL DELIVERY gS AA Mania Reed wWTartseast i El Eastmont Cuftom Framing usie Fine Art NASHUA Nil CAP) -A man facing execution for killing two men in Massachusetts pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a third in New Hampshire Gary Sampson who admitted killing Robert Whitney ip Juty 2001 pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received the mandatary sentence of life without parole He said he agreed to the plea not onty because he is gritty but because prosecutors agreed to keep him out of New England while he awaits execution Sampson who is appealing his death sentence spoke forcefrity in court interrupting the questions to complain about toe prison chains on his waist and make his case for being returned to the federal prison in Terre Haute Ind don't want to cost the state he said "I don't want to cause toe families any grief caused enough grief I Just want to get this over with rm sick and tired of the media playing games and twisting this and profiting off other grief and the aggravation I go through and the families go through" Sampson 44 has been held at the prison where Timothy McVeigh was executed since he was sentenced to death earlier this year in Massachusetts New Hampshire prosecutor Michael Delaney said Sampson knows a lot of the prison population in the region and wanted to move away was an Sampson told Hillsborough -County Superior Court Judge Bernard Hampsey come out here I plead guilty and rm returned back to death row within seven days And if not it HI drop my Ar drifter who grew up in Abingtan SunpMB confessed to killing two men during carjackings in Massachusetts before murdering Whitney 58 in Meredith His weeldong crime spree ended with his capture in Vermont Hq pleaded guilty last year to murder and carjacking far the dwtha of Jonathan 19 of Kingston Mass and Philip McQouty 69 of Thnnton Mass After a federal Jury in Massachusetts condemned Sampson to die last December UR District Judge Mark' WoK ordered New Hampshire whlcfi executed anyone' since 1939 Wolf ordered the execution carried out ki New Hsmpshire to make it acccssMe to the fomflics of Ssmpsorfs victims and interested members of the pribfic and to consolidate fahm appeals in the 1st URL ChcnK Court of Appeals got sentenced to death Send me back to death row and when the day comes send me back her to get tsa a 1 a iniff grinnr ifnifiNTu hi im ii New Hampshire could fadkoetty bolster Sampson's effort to avoid -s-I Cpm £pcricit Gtitfamftphl Wloc CnAtMty faffth! i 159 Main Street Easthampton MA 413-529-9265 a Studio 19 5TRS3SI T-A A tv J- rfs- HOME Expanded" Sale Artists Reception Friday June 4 4 's'v 1 82 Cottage Street Easthampton MA 4133273936 wwwJcwhomejiet.