Free Republic

(7/11/06 - HUNTSVILLE, TX) - Condemned murderer Derrick Sean O'Brien has been executed for the torture, rape and strangling of two teenage girls. O'Brien is one of six gang members convicted in the 1993 slayings of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena in Houston. The US Supreme Court had been asked to block tonight's execution. O'Brien's defense argued there's no legal procedure for condemned Texas prisoners to challenge whether the drugs used in lethal injections could cause unconstitutional pain.

April 22, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - A passenger who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport. Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base scrambled to escort the plane. The A-320 Airbus heading to Sacramento, Calif., from Chicago flew into Denver Friday. The F-16s followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen. Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega tried to open an door on the Airbus A-320 en route from Chicago to Sacramento, Calif., and then claimed to have a bomb forcing...

United Airlines Flight Diverted to DenverDENVER - A passenger who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport, airport officials said. Two F-16 fighter jets from Buckley Air Force Base scrambled to escort the plane as it flew into Denver Friday, according to Lt. Commander Sean Kelly, a spokesman for NORAD. "They followed to make sure nothing untoward was going to happen," he said. Jose Manuel Pelayo-Ortega was arrested after the plane landed around 4:30 p.m., FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelso said. Three Secret Service...