Investigations

Two decades ago, on a warm summer night, the wife of a minister and mother of three died under heartbreaking circumstances. Her station wagon ran off a gravel country road and overturned in the Cottonwood River outside Emporia, Kansas. Early Sunday morning hikers came upon the body, floating in shallow water. But the death of Sandy Bird wasn't an accident.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday that it is reopening its investigation of the drowning of Delores Jackson, former wife of entertainer Tito Jackson and former sister-in-law of pop superstar Michael Jackson. The district attorney's office acted in response to new evidence released Tuesday by coroner's officials, who said Jackson may have died of an "assisted drowning." Jackson, 39, was pulled from the pool of her boyfriend, businessman Donald J.

Neil Thomas Gunn Sr. wheeled his pickup truck to the curb in a quiet hillside neighborhood in Burbank, about a mile from the police department where he'd worked for 22 years. He got out toting a 12-gauge shotgun, walked to a grassy area and turned the weapon on himself. Knowing that officers from his department would be dispatched to the scene, Gunn had left two notes in the truck. One asked that the vehicle not be impounded, but instead released to his family. The other said "this is absolutely work related."

Los Angeles County homicide detectives are continuing to investigate the death of an inmate last week. William Hansbrough, 36, was declared dead just after 10 a.m. Thursday at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said Sunday. Hansbrough had been strangled, according to the county coroner's office. Guards conducting a security check were "told by an inmate that he had killed his cellmate," according to the Sheriff's Department. The men were housed in a jail module designated for mentally ill inmates, sheriff's officials said.

Here is a recap of investigations into public finances in Bell: L.A. County district attorney's office: Prosecutors charged eight current and former Bell officials with public corruption; the office is now investigating fees charged to businesses. U.S. Justice Department: It is investigating possible civil rights violations by the city. California attorney general's office: It filed civil lawsuits against Bell officials and is seeking oversight of Bell affairs.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to launch an investigation of the CIA's detention and interrogation programs under President George W. Bush, setting the stage for a sweeping examination of some of most secretive and controversial operations in recent agency history.

A man and his wife were in custody Tuesday as police investigated the suspected child-abuse slaying of their 11-year-old nephew and came across the remains of a second, more deteriorated body at the couple's home. Raul Ricardo Sarinana, 38, was arrested after calling police just before 2 p.m. Monday. He told police that "he had hurt the boy, and that the boy may be dead," Corona police Sgt. Jerry Rodriguez said. Officers found the boy's battered body inside the couple's duplex unit at 1110 S.

A year after calling for a "new model" for college athletics, NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz opened the 85th annual NCAA convention Monday by asking the organization's members to develop "a second chapter to that model," including a review of the NCAA enforcement process.

An outside party will take over the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency's investigation of all officers involved in the shooting of an unarmed man at a train station platform, BART officials said Thursday. Oscar Grant, 22, was fatally shot in the back while lying face down at the Fruitvale station early New Year's Day. Alameda County prosecutors have charged former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who has come under scrutiny because of her husband's ties to a bank that received federal bailout funds. The panel's chairwoman and ranking member announced the committee was extending by 45 days a determination on whether it would conduct a more thorough review of Waters' conduct, but they declined to say what was being investigated. Waters, one of Los Angeles' most enduring liberal politicians, also declined to comment.