MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005
Volume 4, Issue 122
FR EE
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Food poisoning at grocery store leaves bad taste in judge’s mouth
DAILY LOTTERY SUPER LOTTO 8 13 16 19 43 Meganumber: 6 Jackpot: $7 Million
FANTASY 5 7 14 15 23 27
DAILY 3 Daytime: Evening:
898 913
DAILY DERBY 1st: 2nd: 3rd:
09 Winning Spirit 10 Solid Gold 05 California Classic
RACE TIME:
1:40.97
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
In November 2003, when last we left America’s most uninhibited public gay basher, Topeka, Kan., preacher Fred Phelps, he was proposing a statue to celebrate the murder of a gay man. In December 2004, his Westboro Baptist Church issued a press release praising God for the “Tsunami & 2,000 dead Swedes!!!” after he assumed that Swedes were among the vacationers who drowned at resorts in Thailand. Phelps had denounced Sweden for jailing a gay-condemning preacher (Rev. Ake Green, since released). According to Phelps, the Swedish homosexuals who died were “vacationing on their fat expendable incomes without kids to bother with and spend money on.”
TODAY IN HISTORY Today is 94th day of 2005. There are 271 days left in the year. On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. In 1902, British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships for Americans at Oxford University.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” THE REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1929-1968)
INDEX
Extortionist gets five years for threatening to poison baby food at Ralphs BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
MID-CITY — A local man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for putting boric acid and glass shards in baby food products at a Ralphs Grocery store in Santa Monica, then demanding $180,000 to prevent the tampered food from being placed on shelves. David Dickinson, 43, a British
national and resident of Venice, was arrested in May of 2004 after stopping at the Santa Monica Ralphs on Cloverfield Boulevard to retrieve a debit card tied to an account set up for him with the extortion money, authorities said. Dickinson was sentenced Friday in Los Angeles by United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson. Facing 25 years in prison, Dickinson pleaded guilty in November of 2004 to charges of extortion and tampering with consumer products. At the time of his arrest, Dickinson said he blackmailed Ralphs because he needed money for his 5-month-old son’s college education. Judge Pregerson on Friday said
Sonic boom
James Mount/Special to the Daily Press The first person to accurately describe where this photo was taken will win a gift certificate to Izzy’s Deli. E-mail answers to sack@smdp.com
he found Dickinson’s scheme sophisticated and said he thought the contaminated baby food was used to invoke a greater sense of panic, according court documents. Judge Pregerson said the extortion scheme was a “close cousin to terrorism, threatening to tamper with the food supply.” Court documents show that Dickinson sent four tampered food items to Ralphs’ corporate headquarters on Feb. 25, 2004. The package contained a note which said, “This is a blackmail demand pass to persons able to deal with such matter. Keep out.”
Judge Pregerson on Friday said he found Dickinson’s scheme sophisticated and said he thought the contaminated baby food was used to invoke a greater sense of panic.
See EXTORTION, page 9
Wright trial drags into its third and final week BY RYAN HYATT Daily Press Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN LA — The murder trial of a Santa Monica homeless man continues into a third week as the presiding judge takes great measures in an effort to avoid an appeal. David Thomas Wright, who is
charged with murder for allegedly killing Aviva Labbe in 1998, is representing himself. He waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to allow Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ruth Ann Kwan to decide his fate. Those circumstances have prompted Judge Kwan to be extra diligent to prevent Wright from
making a successful appeal, sources close to the case said. If found guilty, Wright faces life in prison, said Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Ellen Aragon, who has presented testimony from seven witnesses since the trial began March 21. Authorities found Labbe, then 20, lying face down in a walkway
on the 200 block of Hill Street, in front of a vacant home. Labbe’s murder had been classified as a “cold case” and remained unsolved for nearly four years until a sampling of Wright’s DNA linked him in 2002 to the murder through the U.S. Department of Justice’s dataSee TRIAL, page 9
Horoscopes Invite others over, Libra
2
COMMUNITYPROFILES | COMMUNITY PROFILES IS A WEEKLY SERIES THAT APPEARS EACH MONDAY AND DELVES INTO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN SANTA MONICA.
Surf Report Water temperature: 57°
3
Opinion Right to die a hypocrisy
4
Local City launches book club
7
State First-time homeowners get bone 10
National Antifreeze not a Scooby snack
11
Comics Strips tease
12
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
13-15
People in the News When Kanye’s fans attack
20
Jacquie Banks
Tia Skulski: A woman with status BY LESLIE ANNE JONES Special to the Daily Press
Growing up in the frigidness of Buffalo, NY., a change of scenery was necessary for Tia Skulski and Los Angeles seemed to be the closest option. Fourteen years ago, Skulski, the 38-year-old chairperson of Santa Monica’s Commission on Women, loaded up a U-Haul truck and made her way across the country. During her two and a half years
on the commission, Skulski has overseen a number of projects including the Report on Women and Girls in Santa Monica, which gives a comprehensive look into the status of the city’s female population. But Skulski’s community service isn’t limited to women’s issues. Throughout her life, she’s always tried to reach out to others, especially those less fortunate than herself. “I remember when I was little, and I would throw a dollar bill out
the window because the car that was driving wouldn’t stop ... And in my stubborn nature, I’d roll down the window and throw a dollar bill or two out the window,” she said. Things haven’t changed much. Since moving to LA, single and never married, Skulski keeps herself busy in a myriad of charitable organizations and events. Skulski founded Art Peace, a seven-month project See PROFILES, page 8
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