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SEATTLE

Lawyer: Murderer is paranoid schizophrenic

Kevin Cruz, convicted in the fatal shootings of two men at a shipyard where he formerly worked, is a paranoid schizophrenic who hallucinates, hears imaginary voices and has covered his bedroom walls in tinfoil so "they" can't listen in, his defense lawyer said Wednesday.

"He thinks his defense attorneys are involved in some kind of conspiracy or plot to get him," Tony Savage said.

Cruz faces either the death penalty or life in prison without parole for killing Russell Brisendine and Peter Giles and wounding two others at the Northlake Shipyard on Nov. 3, 1999. The sentence will be decided by the same King County Superior Court jury that convicted Cruz of aggravated first-degree and attempted murder.

Savage emphasized his client's mental illness to assure jurors that if they chose not to send Cruz to death, they would not be letting him off lightly. Cruz, he said, would only descend deeper into madness in a prison system poorly equipped to treat his condition.

Ex-director stole from Epilepsy Foundation

The former executive director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington, fired after eight months on the job, has been convicted of first-degree theft in using more than $44,000 in foundation funds for personal expenses.

Don Dudley was convicted Tuesday by a King County Superior Court jury of improperly using foundation debit and credit cards to take $44,178 for personal use. He paid back $17,000.

Dudley headed the organization from April 1999 until he was fired in December 2000.

Dudley is to be sentenced April 12. He faces a maximum 90 days in jail under state sentencing guidelines.

TACOMA

Coast Guard ends search for Puyallup man

TACOMA -- The search was suspended Wednesday afternoon for a 31-year-old Puyallup man who vanished after an open 12-foot boat capsized in the turbulent waters of the Tacoma Narrows, throwing him and a fishing companion into the water.

Neither man was wearing a life jacket.

Coast Guard and Pierce County sheriff's divers searched for the man -- identified as Glen Cruz -- after the aluminum boat capsized Tuesday afternoon about 21/2 miles north of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

A Coast Guard duty officer said a paddle, jacket and shoe belonging to Cruz were found Wednesday on a beach near the east side of the bridge, but there was no sign of Cruz himself.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Cameraman hit at Legislature protest camp

VICTORIA -- There was an arrest and a topless protest at the so-called "peace camp" on the lawn of the British Columbia Legislature Wednesday.

The protesters, angry at the Liberal government's program of budget cuts, have been ordered by the courts to remove their collection of tents, which have been on the lawn for three weeks. Tempers flared as a television crew videotaped one group taking down their tent.

A CBC cameraman said he was the target of an unprovoked attack, getting a punch in the nose, Canadian Press reported.

On Wednesday, several women took off their tops and began dancing on the lawn in plain view of the windows of the Legislature's cabinet room, where the Liberal cabinet was meeting.

The event began as protest by students upset at the lifting of a freeze on post-secondary tuition fees. But it ended up being occupied largely by homeless people.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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