Premeditated Murder

William Norman, the retired first principal of Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, was found slain in a canal in Davie, Fla., and police said they have charged two teenagers with premeditated murder in his death. Norman, 76, of Tampa, worked for 28 years in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system, serving as Chesapeake's principal from 1976 to 1983. The school auditorium is named for him. He retired in 1989 as director of fiscal services, school officials said. Two men, one of whom rented a house in Tamarac that Norman owned, were charged, according to police.

William Norman, the retired first principal of Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, was found slain in a canal in Davie, Fla., and police said they have charged two teenagers with premeditated murder in his death. Norman, 76, of Tampa, worked for 28 years in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system, serving as Chesapeake's principal from 1976 to 1983. The school auditorium is named for him. He retired in 1989 as director of fiscal services, school officials said. Two men, one of whom rented a house in Tamarac that Norman owned, were charged, according to police.

?There?s a difference between premeditated murder and the gun going off, but the end result is the same. Somebody?s still dead.? ? Don Imus Imus raised a storm of protest last week after he demeaned African-American members of the Rutgers women's basketball team on the air. MSNBC canceled the TV version of his morning talk show and CBS radio, which had suspended him for two weeks, later dumped him too.

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. search for fighters allegedly linked to Iran turned into a firefight early yesterday in which the military said it killed 26 militants. The Iraqi government rebuked the Americans for carrying out the raid in a Baghdad slum without its permission, and local leaders said many civilians had been hurt. Meanwhile, two U.S. soldiers have been charged with premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of three Iraqis, and with planting weapons on the bodies in order to cover up the crimes, the Army announced yesterday.

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. search for fighters allegedly linked to Iran turned into a firefight early yesterday in which the military said it killed 26 militants. The Iraqi government rebuked the Americans for carrying out the raid in a Baghdad slum without its permission, and local leaders said many civilians had been hurt. Meanwhile, two U.S. soldiers have been charged with premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of three Iraqis, and with planting weapons on the bodies in order to cover up the crimes, the Army announced yesterday.

One morning last winter, Charles Wright lost his life over 50 cents.Wright, 38, was accused of snatching two quarters another man had put down to reserve a pool table at the Nite Owl bar. Then he was fatally stabbed in a fight outside the bar located in the 3600 block of Woodland Ave."To kill man for two quarters I think is beyond words," Wright's brother, Clinton, told Baltimore Circuit Judge Elsbeth Levy Bothe.Edward A. Moss Jr. accepted a plea bargain and yesterday was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the Jan. 26 stabbing.

A Baltimore County jury convicted a 19-year-old city man yesterday of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the killing of Hunt Valley Burger King manager James W. Stambaugh Jr. last December. Courtney D. Bryant, who was also convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous and deadly weapon, could face the death penalty when Baltimore County Circuit Judge Alexander Wright Jr. sentences him Jan. 31. During the three-day trial, state prosecutors Marsha Russell and Mickey Norman presented several witnesses who testified that Bryant planned the robbery and participated in the murder.

A Baltimore County jury yesterday found Dionne C. Brooks guilty of felony murder and robbery in the beating death of a Woodlawn woman who gave her shelter after she was released from a drug program.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Brooks, 27, who murdered and robbed 52-year-old Margaret Mae "Peggy" Kobik at the victim's apartment on April 16.The jury rejected a spirited defense argument that Brooks was not criminally responsible for her actions because of well-documented mental and emotional problems that dated to 1981.

Baltimore County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Baltimore man convicted Wednesday of fatally shooting a popular Catonsville barber and one of his customers -- even though the jury found him innocent of premeditated murder.A jury in Montgomery County, where the case was moved,deliberated for 13 hours Tuesday and Wednesday before returning its verdict for Jeffrey Damon Ebb, 26, of the first block of S. Morley St.Ebb was convicted of two counts of felony murder for killing barber James E. Brodie and customer Michael S. Peters Jr. during an attempted robbery Nov. 28 at Mr. Brodie's shop in the 400 block of Winters Lane.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman were charged yesterday with premeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and other offenses in connection with the April 26 death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamandiya and an alleged cover-up. The defendants are accused of breaking into a home in the town west of Baghdad, dragging out an unarmed, disabled 52-year-old Iraqi named Hashim Ibrahim Awad and killing him. An AK-47 and a shovel were left near the body to make it appear that Awad was an insurgent digging a hole to place a roadside bomb, according to military investigators.

?There?s a difference between premeditated murder and the gun going off, but the end result is the same. Somebody?s still dead.? ? Don Imus Imus raised a storm of protest last week after he demeaned African-American members of the Rutgers women's basketball team on the air. MSNBC canceled the TV version of his morning talk show and CBS radio, which had suspended him for two weeks, later dumped him too.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman were charged yesterday with premeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and other offenses in connection with the April 26 death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamandiya and an alleged cover-up. The defendants are accused of breaking into a home in the town west of Baghdad, dragging out an unarmed, disabled 52-year-old Iraqi named Hashim Ibrahim Awad and killing him. An AK-47 and a shovel were left near the body to make it appear that Awad was an insurgent digging a hole to place a roadside bomb, according to military investigators.

A Baltimore County jury convicted a 19-year-old city man yesterday of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the killing of Hunt Valley Burger King manager James W. Stambaugh Jr. last December. Courtney D. Bryant, who was also convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous and deadly weapon, could face the death penalty when Baltimore County Circuit Judge Alexander Wright Jr. sentences him Jan. 31. During the three-day trial, state prosecutors Marsha Russell and Mickey Norman presented several witnesses who testified that Bryant planned the robbery and participated in the murder.

DAYTONA BEACH - Visibly shaken, Jean Calloway reluctantly took the stand yesterday afternoon in the absence of a jury and told of hearing an Oak Hill man describe a stabbing nearly three years ago. But as attorneys debated her testimony, potentially the most damaging yet against Christopher Trull, the clock ran out and the day ended before jurors could hear what she had to say. Calloway is scheduled to be the last witness today in the state's case against...

A Baltimore County jury yesterday found Dionne C. Brooks guilty of felony murder and robbery in the beating death of a Woodlawn woman who gave her shelter after she was released from a drug program.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Brooks, 27, who murdered and robbed 52-year-old Margaret Mae "Peggy" Kobik at the victim's apartment on April 16.The jury rejected a spirited defense argument that Brooks was not criminally responsible for her actions because of well-documented mental and emotional problems that dated to 1981.

Baltimore County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a Baltimore man convicted Wednesday of fatally shooting a popular Catonsville barber and one of his customers -- even though the jury found him innocent of premeditated murder.A jury in Montgomery County, where the case was moved,deliberated for 13 hours Tuesday and Wednesday before returning its verdict for Jeffrey Damon Ebb, 26, of the first block of S. Morley St.Ebb was convicted of two counts of felony murder for killing barber James E. Brodie and customer Michael S. Peters Jr. during an attempted robbery Nov. 28 at Mr. Brodie's shop in the 400 block of Winters Lane.

DAYTONA BEACH - Visibly shaken, Jean Calloway reluctantly took the stand yesterday afternoon in the absence of a jury and told of hearing an Oak Hill man describe a stabbing nearly three years ago. But as attorneys debated her testimony, potentially the most damaging yet against Christopher Trull, the clock ran out and the day ended before jurors could hear what she had to say. Calloway is scheduled to be the last witness today in the state's case against...

A Baltimore County man was convicted yesterday of premeditated murder for shooting his ex-girlfriend through the window of her home because she had refused to let him visit their daughter.A Circuit Court jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Neal F. Willy, 30, a former laborer for Locke Insulators of Baltimore, guilty of first-degree murder and of using a handgun to commit a felony.He could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison for the murder and 20 years for the handgun charge, in addition to a 14-year prison term he is currently serving for violating probation in an earlier case.

A Columbia teen-ager described by prosecutors as a cold-blooded killer was convicted early today for the rape and strangulation murder of his home tutor last March.Alton Romero Young, 17, faces a maximum penalty of two life sentences -- one without parole -- following his 3 a.m. conviction of first-degree felony murder and first-degree rape in Howard County Circuit Court.Assistant Public Defender Richard Bernhardt immediately asked for a delayed sentencing date.Young is being held without bond in the county detention center.

One morning last winter, Charles Wright lost his life over 50 cents.Wright, 38, was accused of snatching two quarters another man had put down to reserve a pool table at the Nite Owl bar. Then he was fatally stabbed in a fight outside the bar located in the 3600 block of Woodland Ave."To kill man for two quarters I think is beyond words," Wright's brother, Clinton, told Baltimore Circuit Judge Elsbeth Levy Bothe.Edward A. Moss Jr. accepted a plea bargain and yesterday was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the Jan. 26 stabbing.