Nation digest 2/25

Suspects in profs' deaths said to play evil game

HANOVER, N.H. -- The bond between the teen-agers accused of killing two Dartmouth College professors may have sparked an "evil game" of dare that led them to commit increasingly serious crimes, a criminologist says.

Robert Tulloch and James Parker grew up in tiny Chelsea, Vt., playing soccer, rafting rivers and climbing mountains together. While they had other friends, those who knew them said the two did everything together.

"The evil part of this I believe is the relationship between these two boys," said Jack Levin, a Northeastern University criminologist. "I don't think either one of them would have done this by himself. It was the chemistry between them and the bond they shared."

According to a new indictment released last week, prosecutors believe robbery was the motive for the slaying of Half and Susanne Zantop, whose slashed and stabbed bodies were found in their home in January 2001.

Biker charged in death after gangs fight at expo

NEW YORK -- An alleged member of the Hells Angels was charged with killing another biker during fighting at a motorcycle and tattoo expo called the Hellraiser Ball.

More than 70 other people were in custody. At least 10 others were injured in the Saturday free-for-all in Plainview, N.Y., including four wounded by gunfire.

Hundreds of weapons, including knives, baseball bats, handguns, shotguns and an Uzi, were seized by Nassau County police and federal agents.

The violence was just the latest eruption in a long-running feud between the Hells Angels and the Pagans gang, said Nassau County chief of detectives Herbert Faust.

Authorities said the violence broke out when about 100 Pagans in a fleet of 10 vans showed up at the ball, an annual event sponsored by the Hells Angels' Long Island chapter.

Survey finds companies expect hiring to improve

MILWAUKEE -- Some companies expect hiring will improve slightly this spring, but not enough to signal a recovery from recession levels, a new survey finds.

Twenty-one percent of the companies interviewed said they planned to add jobs in April through June, while 10 percent said they anticipated cutting staff, according to Manpower Inc.'s quarterly survey of 16,000 businesses.

The rest of the companies said they either expected to maintain their staffing levels or were uncertain about hiring activities in the second quarter.

Anthrax survivor returns to work after five months

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- At supermarkets, in department stores and on the train on the way to work, people want to meet Ernesto Blanco, the man who fought off the inhaled form of anthrax that killed his co-worker.

Blanco returned to work last week after 23 days in the hospital and four months of recovery. He fought off the anthrax through quick treatment and antibiotics.

The 74-year-old grandfather delivers office mail at American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, but in a new office building. Authorities believe he inhaled anthrax spores while working in the company's mailroom.

-- From wire reports