January 28, 1996
Web posted at: 8:10 p.m. EST
BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- Officials hope to have autopsy results soon on three young Washington women whose bodies were found on a rural Maryland road near a federal wildlife refuge. U.S. Park Police said the women were shot and at least two appeared to have been run over by a vehicle. The fully-clothed bodies of Mishann Chinn,23; Tanji Jackson, 21; and Tamika Black, 19; were found about 4:30 a.m. Saturday about 20 miles northeast of Washington, D.C., next to the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge.
"The three girls were murdered," Park Police Lt. Robert Rule said. "The bodies were laying in the roadway in pretty much a straight line. Because of the nature of it ... it's a complex investigation, and the (Baltimore) medical examiner wants to take his time with it."
WATERVILLE, Maine (CNN) -- The man suspected of killing two nuns and injuring two others at a convent used a knife and a statue of the Virgin Mary as weapons, police said. Investigators had no immediate motive but said the suspect had a history of mental problems. Mark Bechard, a 37-year- old resident of Waterville, Maine, allegedly smashed a door window Saturday to enter the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament convent about 20 minutes after the completion of an evening mass.
"He has attended mass over a period of time." Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said. "The nuns were familiar with him." Police said Bechard was beating a handicapped nun with a religious statute when they arrived.
The dead were identified as Mother Superior Edna Cardozo, 68, and sister Mary Fortin, 67. Two nuns were still hospitalized Sunday afternoon, with one listed in serious condition and another said to be stable. Five other nuns in the convent were uninjured. They managed to call police by phone for help while the attack was under way, authorities said.
DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- A rapidly moving storm struck the Great Lakes on Saturday, bringing gusty winds, dumping up to 2 feet of snow, and forcing even snow plows off the roads.
Heavy rain and wind extended southward along the East Coast, causing flooding in upstate New York, damaging mobile homes, and caused power outages.
People evacuated low-lying homes in parts of Schoharie, Ulster, and Delaware counties and New York State National Guardsmen helped fill sandbags in Margaretville, police said.
Blizzard-like conditions were reported in Michigan, and some parts of Upper Michigan reported drifts of 3 to 4 feet. Highways between Marquette and Munising were closed and snow removal crews were sent back to garages in Alger, Marquette, and Houghton counties.
Farther south, rivers overflowed in northwestern and central Georgia, flooding roads and streets.
On Friday, the storm had left nearly 14 inches of snow on parts of Iowa, with drifts up to 8 feet high. Hundreds of motorists were forced off highways on Friday and four traffic deaths were blamed on the weather.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Earvin "Magic" Johnson's expected return to the National Basketball Association next week will pose no significant threat to other basketball players, a leading AIDS researcher said.
Johnson retired from the NBA in 1991 after testing positive for the virus that causes AIDS, but played on the U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
"The chances of there being transmissibility by blood to blood contact on a basketball court is so infinitesimally small that it is something that shouldn't influence a decision whether someone would come back or not," Dr. Anthony Fauci, AIDS specialist at the National Institutes of Health, told CNN Saturday.
NBA rules requiring play to stop and a bandage to be applied if a player begins bleeding would further reduce the risks, Fauci said.
The Los Angeles Lakers told the NBA league office that Johnson, 36, intended to sell or transfer his 5 percent ownership of the team to allow his return as a player, CNN Sports has learned. League rules prevent an active player from having a ownership interest in a team.
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Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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