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Jeffrey Allan Maxwell Found Guilty

Jeffrey Allan Maxwell
Parker County Sheriff's Department
Jeffrey Allan Maxwell

 

A Texas man has been found guilty of kidnapping his former neighbor and raping her on a deer-skinning device and a bed where she was chained nightly for almost two weeks.

Jurors deliberated 50 minutes before reaching a verdict in Jeffrey Allan Maxwell's case. The 59-year-old was charged with aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Maxwell faces up to life in prison. Jurors will hear more evidence during the trial's punishment phase.

The woman testified last week that Maxwell abducted her March 1 from her rural home. Then he drove 100 miles away to his Corsicana house, 50 miles south of Dallas. She was rescued 12 days later when authorities went to question Maxwell about her disappearance. 

AP

Comic Book Collection Could Bring $2 Million At Auction

One man's remarkable comic book collection that includes some of the most prized issues ever published is expected to fetch more than $2 million at auction.

The 345 comics that Billy Wright collected in his youth and preserved until his death in 1994 will be auctioned in New York on Wednesday. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions will oversee the sale.

Michael Rorrer, of Oxnard, Calif., says he found his great uncle's collection while helping clean out his great aunt's Virginia home following her death last February.

The collection includes 44 of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's top 100 issues from the golden age of comic books.

Among the notable issues are Action Comics No. 1, in which Superman debuted, Detectives Comics No. 27, in which Batman debuted, and Captain America No. 2, which features Adolf Hitler.

AP

American Airlines Workers Distribute Online Petition Hoping To Save Jobs

American Airlines workers in Tulsa say they are stepping up efforts to save hundreds of local jobs that could be on the bankrupt company's chopping block.

Workers with the Transport Workers Union were printing up 500 yard signs touting their campaign's website, www.isupportamericanjobs.com, where visitors are asked to sign an online petition as a show of support. More than 15,000 people have signed so far.

The struggling company filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29 after posting $11 billion in losses since 2001. Corporate executives have said the company plans to lay off about 13,000 employees company wide, including thousands of mechanics, flight attendants, pilots and management staff as it goes through reorganization.

AP

Supreme Court To Take Up College Affirmative Action Again

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will return to the issue of affirmative action in higher education for the first time since its 2003 decision endorsing the use of race as a factor in admissions.

This time around, a more conservative court is being asked to jettison that ruling and outlaw affirmative action in the university setting.

A federal appeals court upheld the Texas program at issue.

AP

Texas Economy Good, State Budget Still Short

The Texas economy is coming back, but the state budget is still in trouble.

The chairman of the Legislative Budget Board, John O'Brien, told lawmakers Tuesday they did not appropriate enough to cover state expenses for Medicaid and other programs. The state is short more than $4.1 billion in the current budget.

The chief revenue estimator for the Texas comptroller, John Heleman, said the state economy had rebounded faster than the rest of the nation. He also said that the state had recovered more than 440,000 jobs, but that many people had moved to Texas since 2008 and have not found jobs.

Heleman also said the state's Rainy Day Fund has $6.1 billion and will have $7.3 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

AP

West Texas Judge Rules Terror Bomb Suspect Competent

A federal judge in West Texas has ruled a Saudi man accused of trying to make a weapon of mass destruction is mentally competent to stand trial.

U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings ruling Tuesday came after prosecutors submitted a report from Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari’s psychiatric evaluation. His defense offered no argument but asked that the report be sealed. Cummings ordered it sealed.

Court documents allege Aldawsari planned to attack various targets, including the home of former President George W. Bush's home in Dallas.

Aldawsari has pleaded not guilty. His attorney says he plans to use an insanity defense.

Aldawsari's trial is scheduled to begin April 30 in Lubbock.

AP

Napolitano Visits South Texas

U-S Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will continue reviewing Customs and Border Protection operations in the Rio Grande Valley Tuesday.

She arrived in McAllen Monday and met with agency officials to discuss operations at the ports of entry.

A coalition of Texas border mayors, county administrators and economic development agencies last week criticized the President’s budget proposal for not including enough money to upgrade operations at border ports of entry.

AP

Perry's Donations Dwindled As Campaign Wound Down

Rick Perry raised nearly $389,000 – and spent nearly ten times that - during the final three weeks of his failed presidential campaign.

The Texas governor took in just $388,531 in donations from Jan. 1 until he dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination 18 days later.

Perry's Federal Election Commission report for January shows he spent almost $3.3 million over the same period. He had a bit more than $860,000 in cash-on-hand at month's end.

Perry raised more than $17 million in donations in just his first seven weeks of campaigning. But high-profile debate flubs saw his popularity plummet. Perry took in just $2.9 million in the final three months of 2011.

Things only got worse after that.

AP

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.