Murders San Diego

For 27 years, confessed triple killer Joseph Bernard Morse has been trying to get out of prison. And for 27 years, John A. Hewicker II, a former FBI agent, the son of a hard-nosed judge, and a career prosecutor known for relentless pursuit, has made sure Morse is not let loose. Hewicker feels so strongly about the Morse case that today, at the age of 66 and a year into his retirement, he will be at Morse's parole hearing to warn that Morse will kill again if he is given the opportunity.

In a memorial service Tuesday that combined sorrow and hope, hundreds of students, faculty and others at San Diego State said farewell to three engineering professors gunned down on campus Aug. 15 and vowed not to let "a mindless act of violence" shatter the university. Stephen L. Weber, president of San Diego State, praised professors Chen Liang, Costas Lyrintzis and Preston Lowrey III for living lives "committed to advancing the human ascent."

The master's degree thesis written by a graduate student accused of fatally shooting three professors does not appear to be a factor in the murders, the victims' colleagues say. Contradicting police reports, San Diego State University engineering professors paint a favorable picture of the quality of Frederick Martin Davidson's research project, the final hurdle to a degree. "I was familiar with the thesis," said professor Joseph Katz, whose office was next door to one of the victims.

Frederick Martin Davidson, shackled and downcast, pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of murder in the fatal shootings Thursday of three engineering professors at San Diego State University. Deputy Dist. Atty. James Pippin announced that the district attorney's office will ask the jury to find that "special circumstances"--lying in wait and committing multiple murders--exist to merit the death penalty.

Defending a thesis before a committee of professors can seem like torture for a nerve-racked graduate student facing the prospect of having years of hard labor torn to shreds. But for the faculty members who sit in judgment, there has been little trepidation--until now.

Like many a mentor and student, Chen Liang and Frederick Davidson shared a bond of common hopes and intellectual passions that seemed to transcend their differences in status, background and temperament. The ebullient Chinese-born professor and the taciturn Army veteran graduate student worked closely on a project to develop a new metal alloy they believed could revolutionize the aerospace industry because of its ability to withstand heat.

Like many a mentor and student, Chen Liang and Frederick Davidson shared a bond of common hopes and intellectual passions that seemed to transcend their differences in status, background and temperament. The ebullient Chinese-born professor and the taciturn Army veteran graduate student worked closely on a project to develop a new metal alloy they believed could revolutionize the aerospace industry because of its ability to withstand heat.

A student apparently distraught about the poor evaluation he had received on his master's thesis walked into the Engineering Building at San Diego State University on Thursday afternoon and shot three faculty members to death before surrendering to police, authorities said. Police said the three men slain were members of a thesis defense committee that had been evaluating the work of candidates for graduate degrees in engineering.

The family of a young woman murdered by an on-duty California Highway Patrol officer in 1986 has settled a lawsuit against the CHP for $2.7 million. The family of Cara Knott decided to settle the lawsuit rather than continue the legal fight, according to the family's lawyer, Brian Monaghan. A judge last year awarded the family a $7.5-million judgment, but the CHP, represented by the state attorney general, filed an appeal.

After an emotional plea for mercy, the youngest person ever charged with murder in California was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of a pizza deliveryman. Tony Edward Hicks, 15, tearfully told the judge: "I'll be a better person. I won't mess up. I want to hold my mom as tight as I can and beg her to take me out of jail." Hicks was 14 years and 4 months old at the time of the murder.