Military death row: More than 50 years and no executions

Ronald Gray raped and battered at least seven women. He killed four, and left the others for dead -- the bodies dumped around Fort Bragg and the neighboring city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, between 1986 and 1987.

He was caught and, just as in the civilian system, he was tried.

He was found guilty by a jury of his peers, just as in the civilian system.

And a death sentence was passed, just as would have been possible in a civilian court for such a heinous crime.

But when it comes to staying alive, history is on Gray's side. The U.S. military has not executed one of its own since 1961.

The former soldier came close to being put to death in 2008, when then President George W. Bush signed a warrant authorizing Gray's execution -- a requirement for capital punishment in the military.

A federal court gave Gray a last-minute temporary stay, and today he -- along with four other former servicemen -- remains on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

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Manhunt for hundreds of Indonesian prison escapees

Indonesian police are searching for potentially hundreds of escaped inmates following a deadly prison riot in Medan, the capital of the province of North Sumatra. At least five people died, including two guards and three prisoners.


More than 200 inmates, some of whom were jailed on terrorism charges, broke free from the maximum-security facility Thursday when the "water supply was cut off because of a power outage," said Ronny Sompie, the National Police Spokesman Brigadier General.

Angry prisoners, unable to bathe or use the bathroom, burned the door to the prison offices, stole guns and took guards hostage.

"The situation is under control and the fire at the prison has been extinguished," said Sompie.

Last suspect in Bali bombings sentenced At least 55 prisoners have been recaptured. Some 800 police and military officials are now searching the surrounding area for escapees.

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Confessed Boston Strangler exhumed in pursuit of cold case

The remains of a man who confessed to being the Boston Strangler were exhumed by authorities working to connect him to the January 1964 killing of Mary Sullivan, the last of 11 women believed killed by the serial killer.

New DNA tests on a secret sample collected from a relative of suspect Albert DeSalvo triggered the exhumation after authorities said there was a "a familial match" with genetic material preserved in the killing of 19-year-old Sullivan, Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said Thursday.

Authorities made the match through DNA taken from a water bottle thrown away by DeSalvo's nephew, he said.

DeSalvo's remains were removed from Puritan Lawn Memorial Park in Peabody, north of Boston, to the state medical examiner's office, where DNA tests will be performed.

Authorities said they believe the results will come back quickly, perhaps in a few days.

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Miami police exhibited pattern of excessive force, Justice Dept. says

Miami police have engaged in a pattern of excessive use of force through officer-involved shootings, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The Justice Department conducted a comprehensive investigation and found that officers intentionally shot at people on 33 separate occasions from 2008 until 2011 and the police department concluded three of those instances were unjustified. The Justice Department said a number of additional shootings were "questionable at best."

The findings also noted that seven officers participated in more than a third of the shootings in question.

The Justice Department also concluded the police department did not conduct timely investigations of such shootings. In addition, the findings said the police had "deficient tactics" and that improper actions had been taken by specialized police units.

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