001056128, Tuesday • October 28, 1997 S The Battalion TATE JTEERS om Page 3 ez said she did:; ' s of this prograr' er child, cl todomypan icr students nfj ) haveapositi er did," Rodt iad a great ef ime watch the buddy to comeij a ring for the ;■ os half an hour derstand that: dt schedules,! sch said. “Bui: id a great effedi his is someiii n) lookforwati am Page 3 ia Jolie is angel 1 draws thevifjj thoutsayingai r Andy Wilson! 'ringing fast-i he screen.Alotp ■s thinkajerfyf neansgood Ison avoidsthil < tod is brisk migh goodw!| to avoid nu e long music -ByTi Separatists go on trial defiantly Jury selection resumes after McLaren’s removal FILE PHOTO/the associated press aratist Richard McLaren was ordered out of the room Monday claiming the court had no jurisdiction over him. ALPINE, Texas (AP) — Separatist Richard McLaren remained defiant Mon day as he went on trial for engaging au thorities in an armed standoff, refusing to participate in his own defense and bom barding the judge with objections. The leader of the Republic of Texas movement was ordered out of the room after protesting that the court had no ju risdiction over him and repeatedly inter rupting jury selection. “The people of this country are fed up with this crap. It’s lies, lies, lies,” said McLaren, who believes that Texas was never legally annexed by the United States and remains an independent nation. He said authorities are involved in a conspiracy along with the people he’s ac cused of plotting to kidnap and that his case belongs before a federal court in Washington, D.C. “I’m sorry. I can’t proceed. We can’t pro ceed. We have to object every five sec onds,” McLaren told state District Judge Kenneth DeHart before being removed for the second time. The judge had given McLaren several warnings. Robert Otto, McLaren’s chief lieutenant and co-defendant, was also removed af ter telling DeHart he would have to con tinue with the “five-second objections” and proceeding to do so. “That’s fine,” Otto said as he was ush ered out. “I’m not going to participate in fraud and under the color of law.” Both McLaren and Otto have court-ap pointed attorneys who were in the court room Monday, but they have decided to represent themselves. McLaren and Otto are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity for allegedly plotting to kidnap two neighbors in the Davis Mountains Re sort, a rural subdivision 175 miles south east of El Paso. The April 27 abduction, carried out by McLaren’s Republic followers, sparked the weeklong standoff with nearly 300 state troopers and Texas Rangers who sealed off the resort to wait out McLaren. The siege ended May 3 when the group agreed to lay down its weapons. Two other group members will go on trial in December on the same charges. All could face five to 99 years or life in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. Jury selection continued Monday af ternoon after the defendants’ removal. District Attorney Albert Valadez asked prospective jurors whether they had been influenced by media coverage of the standoff, which generated international attention, or had any firsthand knowledge of the siege. He also told the jury pool that DeHart would impose sentencing if the defen dants are convicted and asked if it would bother them that they wouldn’t decide punishment. WDL iHESZEIBSE * alibu Grand Prix’ killer talks Kenneth Ray Ransom set to die Tuesday for grisly 1983 murder f counts Ac >r Re&eroofo )) 268-22! , ~ Jg HUNTSVILLE (AP) — Even one oatj'C tmjl 0 f th e men convicted of participat- '' ing in one of Houston’s worst single EEQU|m.ass murders refers to the killing UtMsccne as grisly. “I know that people hate me,” '/mage 5a K enne th Ray Ransom says. ”1 un derstand that. I’ve had to deal with that for the past 14 years. There’s I nothing I can do about it.” jfp, Ransom was set to die Tuesday i night for what became known as A the Malibu Grand Prix killings. An ‘option accomplice, RichardWilkerson, was Film fit executed four years ago. A third par- 1 : c °'° ri r adqT tifipant, James Randall, is serving a 2 % SaSr;life prison sentence, els) ' Single past W Ransom, now 34, was a20-year- ° * P " Void parolee the night of July 21, -1000 Supe 1993 when he, Wilkerson and Ran- Film Scait ^all walked into the Malibu Grand |ix amusement center in south west Houston just before closing. They robbed the place of about $1,300 and killed four young men who worked there, stabbing each 0victim repeatedly. lonochrome.Sf*® “Every time I drive by that loca- 700 dpi Maxfte' tipn, I think about what that scene de DynamicW' like ” j.q Mosier, a former ^Houston homicide detective who prked the case, said Monday. “In at restroom, there was at least 2 inches of blood on that floor. It was like they had a water leak. I’ll never forget that. It’s the most blood I’d ever seen at one location. It was awful.” Medical examiners had difficul ty determining if the victims also had been shot because the bodies had been stabbed so many times and there was so much blood. The victims were Anil Varughese, 18, night manager of the business and a college pre-med student, and three employees: Roddy Harris, 22, and brothers Arnold Pequeno, 19, andJoerenePequeno, IS.Varughese’s body was found in an office. The three others were in the rest room. “I laid awake that next night thinking about those people,” Mosier said. “They put them in the stalls in the rest room and took one out each time and killed them. I kept thinking about the people waiting inside waiting their turn and what horror it must have been.” “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to live,” Ransom, in his first comments about the case,'said last week from inside a cage at the Texas death row visiting area. “Life and freedom go hand in hand. So if I have to die, I’m accepting it. I’m not afraid of dying. The one thing I say is that I’m afraid of what’s be yond death. I don’t know if I’m go ing to a better place or if I’m going to be banished to hell.” Ransom, who had previous prison terms for burglary and auto theft, described himself as a “video freak” who accompanied Wilker son and Randall to the arcade so Wilkerson, who had been fired two weeks earlier, could pick up his fi nal paycheck. “I didn’t have any idea they were going to kill,” Ransom said. “Every- “I know that people hate me. I understand that. IVe had to deal with it for the past 14 years. There’s nothing I can do about it.” KENNETH RAY RANSOM SET TO DIE TUESDAY FOR 1983 ‘MALIBU GRAND PRIX’ MURDERS thing is just — I want to say ‘surreal.’ “I’m definitely sorry. I’m not sorry just for myself. I’m sorry for Richard Wilkerson and James Ran dall and their families and I’m def initely sorry for the victims and their families.” Testimony at his trial, however, showed Randall and Ransom took a butcher knife from a dish drainer at Ransom’s girlfriend’s house. The knife, broken in two, was found lat er near the murder scene. The girl friend also described how the three split up the money and how Ran som was wearing a class ring and watch police determined belonged to Arnold Pequeno. Ransom said he didn’t even count the money he got, but bought a pair of shoes and some jeans to replace jeans that had been bloodied in the massacre. He didn’t find out his share was just over $300 until his trial. “Three hundred dollars for four lives,” he said. “That doesn’t even come out to $100 for each victim. That’s what hurts.” “It’s pretty evident I’m going to die,” Ransom added. “But I told my lawyer from day one I wasn’t guilty of capital murder. Maybe accessory or aiding and abetting but not cap ital murder.” While insisting he did not do the stabbings, Ransom blamed Wilker son for forcing him to participate. “Fear makes you do some stupid things,” he said. “I know I held one (victim) down while Richard threat ened my life. “I was offered a life sentence from the first day to testify. I won’t accept it and I didn’t accept it. I might be wrong but I feel I’m right. You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. I stood my ground. I lost.” Give Us A Shout! Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS), a non-profit agency, can help you get out of debt. Services are completely free and confidential. We have an office at 3833 S. Texas in Bryan. To make an appointment to talk to a counselor, call: 1-800-873-2227 Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.cccsintl.org Tuesday Nile: Beat the Clock Time You Call is the Price You Pay! 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