HUSBAND CHARGED WITH TRYING TO KILL INVALID WIFE IN HOSPITAL
4.53 a.m. ET (953 GMT) October 29, 1998
By William Kates, Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A man accused of beating his wife into a
coma with a baseball bat was arrested after allegedly trying to poison
her with cyanide as she recovered in the hospital.
Jill Cahill, 41, died hours after her husband was charged with
second-degree attempted murder Wednesday. He is accused of
throwing a white powdery substance on her Tuesday night as she lay
in her bed at University Hospital.
Authorities would not comment on whether the charges against James
Cahill III would be upgraded. He is being held without bail.
Cahill, a 38-year-old contractor, had been free on $100,000 bail,
awaiting trial for assault for allegedly beating his wife with an
aluminum baseball bat last spring.
Mrs. Cahill had been in and out of a coma since entering the hospital
April 29, but had been improving recently and was listed in fair
condition before Tuesday.
Authorities say that night, Cahill dressed in a blue shirt and white
pants to disguise himself as a hospital janitor in order to sneak
into his estranged wife's room. He apparently obtained a hospital
employee identification tag, said Ben Moore, the hospital's chief
executive officer.
"Employees saw him pushing a broom but they thought he looked a
little suspicious, a little peculiar and unfamiliar. There was just
something wrong with his appearance," said Sgt. Therese Lore, a
police spokeswoman.
The employees went to notify a supervisor. In the meantime, the nurses
on the floor had noticed a strong odor, which they quickly traced to
Mrs. Cahill's room.
"She had this white powder substance on her chest and she was gasping
for air. She went into cardiac arrest," Lore said.
Police were awaiting test results to identify the powder, she said. An
autopsy is scheduled for today.
Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick said there was no reason to believe that
Cahill was a threat to his Mrs. Cahill.
Cahill had been examined by psychiatrists who determined he was not
dangerous, Fitzpatrick said. Still, a judge set a substantial bail and
issued an order of protection that Cahill observed until Tuesday, police
said.
"Everything in this case pointed that this defendant would go to trial
and accept whatever verdict the jury rendered," Fitzpatrick said.
_________________________________________________________
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
5.13 p.m. ET (2214 GMT) October 28, 1998
NEW YORK (AP) - Montel Williams had a double mastectomy when he was 19.
Williams said he was in the Marines when military doctors found a lump
in his chest. He said on a recent segment of his talk show that he had
both breasts removed and later learned the lump was benign.
He did not have reconstructive surgery. He was able to build up his
chest by working out, said Gary Rosen, a spokesman for "The Montel
Williams Show."
Williams, 42, recently served as host of a breast cancer fund-raiser
sponsored by the acting Baldwin brothers.
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BRITISH BOY DIED FROM USING TOO MUCH DEODORANT, CORONER SAYS
4.09 p.m. ET (2110 GMT) October 28, 1998
MANCHESTER, England (AP) - A 16-year-old boy obsessed with smelling
nice died after months of repeatedly spraying his entire body with
deodorant, a coroner ruled Wednesday.
Jonathan Capewell had 10 times the lethal dosage of propane and bu-
tane in his blood when he suffered a heart attack and died July 29,
coroner Barrie Williams said.
It is believed the fumes built up in his body following months of
"high" deodorant use, Williams said.
"His personal hygiene led him to use more than was normal in a con-
fined space, which limits ventilation," said the coroner, who recor-
ded the death as accidental.
Jonathan's father, Keith Capewell, said his son would cover his entire
body with deodorant at least twice a day.
"When we told him he was using too much, he said he just wanted to
smell good," Capewell said.
"Even when we were in a room downstairs we couldn't just smell it, we
could taste it," the father said. "You wouldn't have thought that
could have been the cause for someone to die. What a price to pay for
smelling nice."
Sue Rogers of the British Aerosol Manufacturing Association said she
had never heard of a similar incident.
"It is extraordinarily unusual and terribly tragic," she said. "The
aerosols have warnings about spraying in confined areas and well-ven-
tilated places, but these are for flammability risks, not about acci-
dental inhalation."
The boy's mother, Louise, called for better warnings on deodorant cans.
"You just get up in the morning and spray it on, but who expects it to
kill you?" she said.
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BANGKOK TRAFFIC POLICEMAN SHOOTS SELF IN RUSH HOUR
Tuesday October 27 10:13 AM EDT
BANGKOK, (Reuters) - A policeman directing Bangkok's notorious traffic
pulled out his revolver and shot himself dead during the morning-rush
hour Tuesday.
A police spokesman said he believed the stress of the job had pushed
34-year-old Corporal Nopadol Thechawandee to take his life on the main
road in front Bangkok's International Airport.
Two officers on duty nearby said Nopadol had said earlier that he wanted
to die but they did not think he was serious about killing himself.
Research by Thailand's Public Health Ministry has shown Bangkok's traffic
to be a major cause of stress for both motorists and traffic policemen.
_________________________________________________________
MAN TORCHES HOME, DIES IN BURNING CAR
Tuesday October 27 10:11 AM EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Reuters) - A man trying to torch a neighbor's home in
a possible act of revenge, suffered fatal burns when his car caught fire as
he was driving away from the scene, police said Monday.
The man pitched a Molotov cocktail -- a bottle filled with gasoline stuffed
with a rag -- on the roof of Joseph Carnesi's house Sunday morning, but his
car burst into flames as he drove away, police said.
"His vehicle was ignited by fire and it stopped when it ran into a tree,"
St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Doniel said. "An off-duty firefighter
pulled him from the vehicle."
Eldon Green, 53, died of his burns at Tampa General Hospital late Sunday, a
hospital spokeswoman said.
Doniel said it was unknown how the fire in the car started. The fire at
Carnesi's house was quickly doused.
Police said there had been animosity between the two men for months, alle-
gedly over a relationship between Carnesi, 29, and a female relative of
Green.
The St. Petersburg Times reported that court records showed Carnesi was ac-
cused in June of sexually assaulting Green's relative, but the case was re-
duced to a misdemeanor battery and Carnesi pleaded no contest.
Carnesi told the Times he had dated a relative of Green but allegations of
sexual assault were unfounded. "I didn't do anything to the girl," he told
the newspaper.
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ELEPHANT KILLS WOMAN ON GOLF COURSE
Monday October 26 4:15 PM EDT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A German tourist playing golf in a South African
resort was killed by a rampaging elephant which is believed to have escaped
from the nearby Kruger National Park, police said Monday.
A police spokesman told Reuters that the elephant attacked and killed 58-
year-old Rita Hahn of Stuttgart Saturday at the Hans Merensky Country Club
and Lodge in front of her horrified husband and son.
The golf course in Northern Province borders the Kruger, South Africa's
premier game reserve, from where the elephant is believed to have escaped
after breaking down a game fence.
"The elephant is still on the loose and we have warned local residents to
be alert," the police spokesman said.
_________________________________________________________
MAN TAKES DEAD FATHER ON LAST MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monday October 26 9:31 AM EDT
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish man bade his dead father farewell by taking
his corpse for a motorcycle ride over the weekend, stopping at a bar for
beer and a cigar.
Flemming Pedersen, 37, asked the staff at the hospital where his 86-year-old
father died if he could be left alone with him for a while, the tabloid BT
reported on Monday.
Pederson dressed the rigid corpse in leather gear, boots, a helmet and dark
sunglasses and walked it out of the hospital.
Then he strapped the body to the seat of his Harley Davidson with elastic
straps and drove around metropolitan Copenhagen for three hours, visiting
his father's favorite spots.
He stopped at a curbside bar, where he bought two beers and stuck a lit
cigar between his dead father's lips.
Pedersen said he had taken the last ride with his father to have a chat with
him and that he felt good about it afterward.
_________________________________________________________
SCHOOL SUSPENDS 15-YEAR-OLD "WITCH"
Friday October 23 2:03 PM EDT
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A 15-year-old girl who claims to be a witch was
suspended from school this week after another girl accused the high-
school freshman of casting a spell on her, school officials said Thursday.
Jamie Schoonover, who has been taunted by fellow classmates for her overt
adherence to the neopagan Wicca religion, was sent home for the day after
an incident that occurred outside Baltimore's Southwestern High School on
Tuesday morning.
The other girl heard from a third student that Schoonover had put a "hex"
on her. She started crying and ran to school administrators, who later held
a two-hour meeting with both girls and their families.
Schoonover's suspension slip cited her for "casting a spell on a student."
Baltimore schools officials later pronounced the whole thing a misunder-
standing and said Schoonover's suspension order should have cited her for
making an alleged verbal threat.
Schoonover, whose father is a 45-year-old transsexual named Colleen Harper,
stands out at school because she wears all-black clothing and is a devotee
of gloomy "Goth" rock music, school officials said. Her family says she
is also bisexual.
Harper, who describes herself as a witch as well, told reporters at the
school that this week's incident was only the latest in a series of encoun-
ters in which her daughter had been taunted and threatened.
_________________________________________________________
AMOROUS EMU FAILS TO GET HER MAN
Thursday October 22 4:19 PM EDT
MOBILE, Ala. (Reuters) - A 6-foot-tall, 150-pound emu that fell head over
heels in love with an Alabama man and stalked him for days was turned loose
Thursday on a farm populated by her own species.
"It was mating season and she took a fond liking to him," Diane Roberts,
director of the Mobile, Alabama, Animal Rescue Foundation, told Reuters.
"He had to ward her off with a boat paddle. She was absolutely intent that
this was her mate."
The giant bird showed up at the home of Ed and Ann Stuardi last month,
drinking from a bird bath and eating berries in their yard. They fed it dog
food.
Last week the emu began following Ed Stuardi around. Then it became aggres-
sive, chasing their cats. Stuardi tried to frighten the bird away by shooting
his gun into the air. The emu just stood there, looking at him forlornly.
By Monday, it was making noises deep in its throat, a mating call Stuardi
failed to recognize as the bird approached him. Shorter than than the bird,
he held it off with a boat paddle.
Monday night and Tuesday, the Stuardis cowered inside their home. Ann Stuardi
called the sheriff to beg for help but was told deputies didn't have the
equipment to catch the bird. That's when Animal Rescue Foundation got in-
volved.
"She pursued him. They had been feeding her, and when mating season hit, he
almost got it. She had her heart set on this man," said Roberts.
"I've never seen an emu hold hostages," she said. "He wasn't aware what
the bird wanted, or why she was stalking him. I've never seen one stalk a
human with procreation in mind."
Animal Rescue had been looking for the bird since Aug. 22, when it heard that
a man had moved away from the area, abandoning three emus. The other two
birds still have not been found.
It took several hours for the rescue team to persuade the bird to get into
a horse trailer so it could be taken to a farm that cares for injured wild-
life. Roberts said the emu's only injury was a broken heart, and it was re-
leased into an area with other emus, including several males.
"Hopefully she will meet another fellow and forget all about Mr. Stuardi.
After all, he is a married man," Roberts said.
_________________________________________________________
DUTCH MOURNERS TO VIEW CREMATIONS ON THE INTERNET
Wednesday October 21 5:17 PM EDT
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Distant Dutch mourners with a burning desire to
attend loved ones' cremations will shortly be able to watch the bulk of
the ceremony on the Internet, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Wednesday.
The manager of the Internet site said the idea was aimed at helping people
who were not able to attend in person.
"That can be people who are abroad, or people who cannot leave home through
illness or other reasons," he said.
He said the site, which will soon stage a trial run for the media, was a
sign of new ways of thinking in the funeral business.
The general public will not be able to tune in to watch cremations, however,
as only relatives and friends will be given the password to log in.
"The page shall absolutely not be available to the masses," he said.
_________________________________________________________
NICKELODEON RUNS WARNING LABEL BEFORE `ALL IN THE FAMILY'
1.11 a.m. ET (511 GMT) October 15, 1998
By David Bauder, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Meathead? Dingbat? What would Archie Bunker call someone
who said people couldn't listen to him without a warning?
The raucous satire "All in the Family," which ran on network television
for years in the 1970s without any viewer alert, has returned to the air
with a parental warning about content.
The Nickelodeon cable network each night this week is running several
episodes of the comedy that made Bunker a national symbol of befuddled
bigotry.
Before each night's marathon, a voiceover explains that "All in the
Family" was "always a satire intended for mature viewers and because
it contains bigoted remarks, racial epithets and adult subject matter,
Nick at Nite has rated the show PG for dialogue and language. Parental
guidance is suggested."
The sitcom's executive producer, Norman Lear, said the warning is an
example of political correctness in the television industry. It was
"unnecessary, maybe even foolish.
"The American people have told us loud and clear that they recognize
this as enough of themselves not to be disturbed by it," Lear said.
They could hear the same language "at any schoolyard or parking lot
adjacent to a church. It isn't uncommon American language."
Nickelodeon included the warning because the nightly "All in the
Family" episodes are preceded directly by programming for children,
spokesman Paul Ward said.
The network generally runs old sitcoms after 9 p.m. EDT on weeknights,
and "All in the Family" contains more adult-oriented subject matter
than most of those comedies, he said.
When the show first aired in 1971, the first eight episodes were
introduced with a preamble explaining that the show sought to throw a
humorous spotlight on prejudice. "By making them a source of
laughter, we hope to show in a mature fashion how absurd they are,"
the statement said.
Once people understood - and the show became one of the most
popular in television history - the advisory was dropped.
Lear, who founded the liberal advocacy group People for the American
Way, said he recently screened an episode of "All in the Family" for a
class of college students.
Half of them had never seen the show before and "they couldn't believe
what they were seeing and wondered why they couldn't see anything
like it today."
_________________________________________________________
POLICE CHASING ROBBER IN CHICKEN SUIT
Wednesday October 14 11:04 AM EDT
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police were pursuing a man Wednesday who
tried to rob a post office dressed in a chicken suit.
Police said the robber, disguised in a yellow chicken outfit and wielding
a baseball bat, failed to steal any money from the post office in Kalmar,
southern Sweden. However, the attacker smashed windows and seriously upset
a female cashier.
"She's now psychologically disturbed by the event and undergoing treatment,"
a Kalmar police spokesman told Reuters.
_________________________________________________________
THOUSANDS OF HOMING PIGEONS MISSING IN TWO RACES
11.44 a.m. ET (1545 GMT) October 7, 1998
ALLENTOWN, Pa.(AP) - Some 2,400 homing pigeons disappeared during two
long-distance races on the same day, a nearly unheard-of loss in the
little-known sport of pigeon racing.
About 1,800 pigeons vanished out of 2,000 competing in a 200-mile
race from northern Virginia to Allentown on Monday. And 600 out of
800 birds were still missing today from a separate 150-mile race from
western Pennsylvania to Philadelphia.
Ordinarily, the swift-flying birds should have been back in their
lofts in a matter of hours.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Earl Hottle of Allentown,
who has been racing pigeons for 37 years. "Nobody can explain it."
Pigeon racing has thrived for centuries among a devoted group of
several hundred breeders in the mid-Atlantic states. Some racing
pigeons can cost up to $250,000, according to the Racing Pigeon Digest
in Lake Charles, La.
Each weekend in spring and fall, thousands of pigeons are trucked up
to 600 miles away and released. Relying on their homing instinct and
incredible stamina, the pigeons fly directly to their lofts. The ones
with the fastest times are the winners.
In any race, a small percentage of the birds do not return home - but
a 90 percent loss rate is unusual.
"We've heard of this in other areas," said Jim Effting, who had only
three of 37 birds return in the race from Virginia. "But we've never
had it happen around here."
Racing veterans have few ideas about what caused the birds to lose
their way - or otherwise disappear. There were no weather problems
during either race, sun spot activity was low and no comets, meteor
showers or planet alignments occurred. The skies were clear of satel-
lite interference.
"The chances that 2,000 hawks would get 2,000 pigeons are pretty un-
likely," said racer Dennis Gaugler. "The birds would scatter when
attacked."
"The truth is that nobody knows what happened," said another racer,
Robert Costagliola, "and probably never will."
_________________________________________________________
PORN POLICE SWOOP ON STARR REPORT
Wednesday October 7 10:52 AM EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's anti-pornography authorities have seized a
Chinese version of the Starr report, branding it an "illicit publication"
for its graphic descriptions of sex in the White House.
Steamy details of U.S. President Bill Clinton's sexual encounters with
former White House intern Monica Lewinsky have been circulating around
China in translation, Xinhua said on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Office Against Pornography and Illicit Publications of the
Municipal Press and Publications Administration confiscated a number of
copies, Xinhua quoted a Beijing newspaper as saying.
The Chinese translation of the 445-page document was rushed into print by
a Chinese weekly newspaper in a "special edition" just two days after it
published on U.S. government Internet sites, Xinhua said.
The document was presented to Congress by independent counsel Kenneth
Starr.
Xinhua quoted the Beijing paper as saying the Press and Publications Ad-
ministration had issued a circular banning the publication of translations
for "diplomatic reasons."
But a dozen publishing houses were ignoring the ban with separate trans-
lations.
"I started selling this book from October 2, and it was selling extremely
well. I had no problem selling 100 to 200 copies a day," one book vendor
was quoted as saying.
China's major state newspapers have offered only terse reports of the
scandal, but the tabloids and talks shows are having a field day with the
story.
Several tabloids have reported as fact that Lewinsky was sent to the U.S.
as an infant by the former Soviet KGB to try to entrap the U.S. president.
Many Beijing residents accept the story at face value.
_________________________________________________________
GETTING TO ZURICH THE HARD WAY
Wednesday October 7 10:51 AM EDT
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A Hungarian airport worker paid an unexpected
visit to Zurich after he was locked in the cargo hold of a Swissair
plane, newspapers said on Wednesday.
The unwitting stowaway had a chilly 80-minute flight from Budapest
but his life was not in danger as the temperature inside the hold
did not fall below five degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit).
Employees from the Hungarian air company Malev noticed their co-worker
was missing only after the flight took off. Malev and Hungarian police
are investigating how he was left in the hold.
_________________________________________________________
MAN JAILED FOR SELLING FAKE HEROIN
Tuesday October 6 12:01 PM EDT
HANOI (Reuters) - A court in northern Vietnam has sentenced a man to
15 years in prison for selling fake heroin, a court official said on
Tuesday.
The official from the People's Court in the northwestern province of
Lai Chau said Hoang Van Thang was jailed late last month after being
found guilty of trying to sell 70 grams (2.45 ounces) of a powder he
thought was heroin.
"The examination results showed that it was not heroin but that is
not significant," the official said. "The purpose was to sell drugs
and we have to deal severely with that."
Lai Chau province - formerly one of Vietnam's main opium growing areas
- borders Laos and has been used by international traffickers bringing
drugs out of the infamous Golden Triangle.
An official from the People's Supreme Court in Hanoi said people should
be punished for attempting to traffic drugs, whether the narcotics were
real or fake.
"In Vietnam, drug traffickers are all punishable whether they are aware
or not of what they have attempted to sell," he said.
Trafficking as little as 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of heroin in Vietnam is
punishable by life imprisonment or death by firing squad.
A court in the northern province of Ninh Binh last week sentenced three
people to death and two others to life in jail after they had been found
guilty of smuggling 10.4 kg (22.9 lb) of opium and 12 kg (26.4 lb) of
heroin.
_________________________________________________________
AMISH MEN PLEAD GUILTY IN COCAINE CONSPIRACY CASE
Tuesday October 6 12:01 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Two Amish men could face years in prison after
pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine at youth hoedowns
run by the insular religious sect known as the Old Order Amish, federal
officials said Tuesday.
Abner Stoltzfus, 24, and Abner King Stoltzfus, 23, who are not related,
entered guilty pleas in federal district court in Philadelphia on Monday.
Other charges contained in a June indictment were dropped by federal
prosecutors as part of a plea bargain.
No sentencing date was set. But federal officials said the conspiracy
charges carry penalties of five to 40 years in prison and up to $2 million
in fines.
In what was believed to be the first case of its kind to occur within the
Amish community, the two men were indicted for selling cocaine and metham-
phetamines obtained from an East Coast motorcycle gang known as the Pagans
between 1992 to 1997. Drug sales were targeted at Amish youth groups
called the Crickets, the Antiques and the Pilgrims.
The Amish, who arrived in Pennsylvania during colonial times, formally es-
chew electricity, cars and other modern conveniences for the simpler ways
of the 18th century.
The insular community has been rocked by the Stoltzfus case, which some
view as the result of a community decision to relax the strict Amish code
of life known as the "Ordnung" more than a decade ago. The change has al-
lowed Amish people to leave the traditional farm for more modern endeavors
in business and the trades.
Both Stoltzfus men worked as roofers and met their alleged accomplices in
the Pagans motorcycle gang on construction jobs.
_________________________________________________________
WOMAN SLEEPS WITH DEAD HUSBAND FOR 8 DAYS
Friday October 2 4:38 PM EDT
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Margarita Sanchez's husband didn't speak to her for
eight days. She thought he was angry, but he wasn't. He was dead.
Cayetano Sanchez, 83, died in bed more than a week ago, but his wife slept
next to him every night for eight days before she realized it, the Mexican
government news agency Notimex reported on Tuesday, citing police sources.
State Judicial Police in the town of Huatusco, in the gulf coastal state of
Veracruz, reported finding Sanchez's partially decomposed body with the bed
covers up to his neck, Notimex said.
"The wife told authorities her husband did not speak to her for eight days
even though she tried to speak to him without realizing he was dead," Notimex
said.
A preliminary investigation suggested Sanchez may have died of alcohol poisoning,
Notimex said.
Margarita Sanchez was to be examined by mental health specialists.
_________________________________________________________
NEVADA MOTHER HAS DEAD SON'S SPERM FROZEN
Friday October 2 10:44 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Nevada woman has had the sperm of her 19-year-
old son harvested and frozen after he shot himself to death playing Rus-
sian roulette, hoping that some day it can lead to a grandchild, the doc-
tor who carried out the procedure said Thursday.
But Dr. Russell Foulk said in a telephone interview with Reuters that she
had no plans to carry the baby herself, despite some news reports to the
contrary.
"She has no plans as it currently stands to carry the baby," said Foulk,
a specialist at the Northern Nevada Fertility Center in Reno, Nevada.
"She wanted an egg donor to carry the baby. That's what she told me."
According to news reports, 38-year-old Pamela Reno had asked to have the
sperm frozen so that she could find an egg donor and act as its surrogate
mother.
But Foulk told Reuters that Reno, a cocktail waitress, was busy with fu-
neral plans for her son and had not discussed the next step. He said Reno
had failed to show up for an appointment Thursday afternoon.
Reno's son Jeremy died when, after a night of drinking with friends, he
apparently shot himself playing Russian roulette.
Foulk said he was contacted by transplant specialists at the University
of California, San Francisco, while the man was still alive and told that
his mother wanted to harvest and freeze her son's sperm.
Foulk said he complied with Reno's request.
He said he was told that Reno had spoken to the press, and had cautioned
her not to make her case public yet. He said it was possible she told a
reporter that she wanted to carry the baby herself.
"She still doesn't understand what she's saying, or at least the ramifi-
cations of what she's saying," Foulk said.
And Foulk said he would be reluctant to inseminate Reno with her son's
child.
"I think I'd have to go sit by a river and think about it for a long
time," he said. "Its not an ideal situation. I'm just not articulate
enough to to tell you why at this point."
_________________________________________________________
MAN KEEPS MOTHER'S CORPSE FOR FOUR MONTHS
Thursday October 1 4:52 PM EDT
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian man watched over his mother's corpse in
a house for four months in the hope that she might come back to life,
Press Trust of India (PTI) said on Thursday.
PTI said the case had come to light when the sister of the dead woman
reported to police in the western city of Jaipur that her 30-year-old
nephew, Harpreet Singh, was behaving strangely.
"They later found the decaying body of Nirmal Kaur, rotting in a cot
in Singh's house on the outskirts of the city," it said.
The unemployed youth had told his aunt, who was visiting Jaipur from
New Delhi, that his mother had gone to the northern city of Chandigarh
for work. But when her inquiries in Chandigarh proved fruitless, the
aunt approached the police.
PTI quoted police as saying that Singh had stayed in his house since
his mother died on May 29, with his only contacts to the outside world
the local milk and newspaper sellers.