JOE McLAUGHLIN/Staff photographer, Home News Tribune

Nurse Melanie McGuire was convicted today of murdering her husband, dismembering him and dumping his body in the Chesapeake Bay.

You can watch the verdict here.

It was an entirely circumstantial case. TalkLeft pal Joe Tacopina was lead counsel. He and co-counsel Stephen Turano challenged every piece of evidence. They tried a great case. But the jury convicted.

Her $1.2 million bail was revoked, she was taken into custody and now faces a mandatory minimum 30 year sentence -- and up to life.

More....

New York Times Public Editor Byron Calame today examines the paper's coverage of the Duke Lacrosse players false sexual assault charges.

At one point he discusses whether the false accuser should be named now. He concludes:

Times editors discussed whether “to stick to our policy of not naming accusers in sexual assault cases,” Mr. Keller told me, “and decided to do so.” My first instinct was that The Times should strongly consider adopting a policy of naming false accusers. Then I decided that the mental health of the Duke accuser and the failure of Mr. Nifong to limit the harm she caused by doing his job responsibly combined to keep this case from being a good one on which to debate such a policy change. But I hope Times editors will soon consider holding a discussion, free of deadline pressure, about what purpose the tradition of not naming sexual assault victims serves when their accusations are proved to have no merit.

I disagree. The moment the charges were dismissed, upon the Attorney General's finding there was no credible evidence to support her claim that any attack occurred that night, she became a false accuser. Her name should be published so that she can no longer hide behind the victim label. Mentally ill or not, she caused incalculable damage to the lives and reputations of three innocent young men, who will be traumatized by the ordeal for years to come.

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Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post notes President Bush used his speech at Tipp City to push for religious revival.

One of the things I try to assure the families and the students and the faculty of that fine university was that there are a lot of people around our country who are praying for them. It's interesting here in Tipp City, the first thing that happened was a moment of silence, a moment of prayer, to provide -- at least my prayer was, please comfort and strengthen those whose lives were affected by this horrible incident. It really speaks to the strength of this country, doesn't it, that total strangers here in Ohio are willing to hold up people in Virginia in prayer. And I thank you for that. And my message to the folks who still hurt in -- at Virginia Tech is that a lot of people care about you, and a lot of people think about you, a lot of people grieve with you, and a lot of people hope you find sustenance in a power higher than yourself. And a lot of us believe you will."

Journalist Dave Cullen has an article on Slate today about the similarities and differences between Va. Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine killers.

Dave, who is writing the definitive book on Columbine to be published in 2008 (and who wrote this TalkLeft diary on the myth of the school shooter profile a few days ago) spent the better part of this week conferring with top experts on psychiatry and violence, to sort out the leading theories on what drove Cho. He also examines how Cho compares to the Columbine killers, and in particular, how he does not.)

This being the anniversary of Columbine, also take a look at Dave's 2004 Slate article on Columbine and the myths behind it.

The jury returned guilty verdicts Thursday on 19 of 42 counts of insider trading against former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio.

I can't imagine sitting through the verdict, hearing 23 counts of "not guilty" one by one, only to be followed by 19 counts of guilty. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

As to my thoughts on the verdict, I've blogged the trial over at 5280.com and my analysis is here.

In a nutshell,

Update (4/20): A suspect, a homeless ex-offender, has been arrested.

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A torturer-rapist is at large in New York City. If you're a woman near Columbia, don't be walking around alone until he's caught.

It was an ordeal that lasted 19 hours. In that span, a man bound a Columbia University graduate student in her apartment, raped her, doused her with hot water and bleach, slit her eyelids and finally set a fire before fleeing, police said.

How he got into her apartment:

More....

Update [2007-4-18 18:51:54 by Big Tent Democrat]: Some images from NBC of the VA Tech shooter.

Update [2007-4-18 17:28:28 by Big Tent Democrat]: On Hardball, NBC reporter Jon Dienst said that the NBC Nightly News will air some of the video which the VA Tech shooter mailed to them between the first snd second shooting.

CNN reporting on TV. Will provide more when I can get it.

Also, the NYTimes is reporting that the VA Tech shooter, Cho, sent materials to NBC between the first and second shootings.

From the NYTimes:

A Virginia court document said that in 2005 a special justice in Virginia declared Mr. Cho mentally ill and an “imminent danger to others,” a CNN report said. The new information, disclosed by police in a news conference today, raises questions about whether warning signs about Mr. Cho’s behavior and problems were handled effectively by police and the university.

More to come.

The Washington Post has some new details on Cho Seung Hui, the Virginia Tech shooter, including statements by Nikki Giovanni, a poet and teacher who warned others about him when he became a problematic student that scared others in the class.

Days later, seven of Giovanni's 70 or so students showed up for a class. She asked students why the others didn't show up and was told that they were afraid of Cho. "Once I realized my class was scared, I knew I had to do something," she said.

She approached Cho and told him that he needed to change the type of poems he was writing or drop her class. Giovanni said Cho declined to leave and said, "You can't make me." Giovanni said she appealed to [Professor] Roy, who then taught Cho one-on-one.

...Roy said she warned school officials. "I was determined that people were going to take notice," Roy said. "I felt I'd said to so many people, 'Please, will you look at this young man?' "

The Smoking Gun has posted one of his "plays." It's predictably ugly.

Predictably, the networks are still milking the gun control debate for all its worth. At least Sen. Harry Reid isn't buying it.

Guns effected, but did not cause the killings. They were the means by which an unbalanced, disturbed individual carried out his rage.

I also think the arguments to increase guns on college campuses are a bad idea.

We should never enact laws as an emotional response to a single tragedy, no matter how horrific. Cooler heads are needed.

Rather than playing the blame game, look to what made Cho Seung-Hui want to kill people and himself. Maybe there's a lesson in there.

If he couldn't buy a gun, he would have stolen one. Or used explosives, in which case the death toll might have been higher.

This was an isolated event that was neither predictable nor preventable.

We elected a Democratic Congress to get us out of Iraq, provide universal health care and preserve Social Security. I hope they don't get diverted by a simplistic non-cure.

The Virginia Tech shootings overlapped with tax day, which is today. The I.R.S. has shown compassion.

The IRS said the extension until Oct. 15 applies to victims, their families, emergency responders and university students and employees.

"Taxes are the last thing the Virginia Tech family should be worried about at this time," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said in a statement. Midnight Tuesday was the deadline for most taxpayers to file their taxes for 2006.

True, anyone can get an extension with minimal paperwork. But it's a nice gesture not to have to think about it.

From the Norman Transcript:

The Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma briefly experienced a lockdown this morning after officials received a report of an unidentified Caucasian male of student age carrying a “suspicious object.”

According to a campus-wide email issued at 9:32 a.m., university deans, directors and chairs were ordered to “Immediately take action to keep all individuals within their current buildings into further notice.” A second email was sent by President David L. Boren’s office at 9:50 a.m. to students, faculty and staff. The note stated, “students, faculty and staff should stay in their buildings or dorms until further notice.”

Shortly after 10 a.m. the lockdown was lifted and Boren issued a statement attributing the action to a yoga mat mistaken for a weapon. Later, officials said it was an umbrella.

Are we now in the paranoia stage?

[hat tip to my cousin Miles, brother of Max, who was on campus and received word someone was on campus with a rifle.

More details are coming out about Cho Seung-Hui, the 23 year old shooter in the Virginia Tech killings. To call them warning signs might be an understatement.

Cho had shown recent signs of violent, aberrant behavior, according to an investigative source, including setting a fire in a dorm room and allegedly stalking some women. A note believed to have been written by Cho was found in his dorm room that railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.

Cho was an English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service, the Associated Press reported.

He had been referred to counseling, but apparently no one followed up to see if he went. Authorities believe he was taking anti-depressant medication at some point.

Did he abruptly stop taking it? Shades of the Columbine killers seem to be emerging here.