Statement

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office on Wednesday spurned the confession of a woman who claimed that she and several friends were responsible for the 1988 slaying of Carol Montecalvo, whose husband was convicted last year of the murder. The prosecutor in the case said that Suzan Brown, 45, was lying when she suddenly stepped forward last month and confessed her role in the fatal shooting of Montecalvo in her Burbank home. "After an extensive investigation of Ms.

Santa Clara County authorities said they are continuing to investigate both the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old Saratoga girl and her suicide days later last year. Santa Clara County Sheriff's Lt. Jose Cardoza told the Associated Press that detectives continue to investigate both cases after three boys were arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual assault. He said authorities at Saratoga High School developed information for several months that led to the arrests.

Wyatt Knight, 56, an actor best known for portraying Tommy Turner in the three "Porky's" films, committed suicide Oct. 25 in Maui, said Eileen O'Farrell, a family spokeswoman. An autopsy determined that Knight died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Associated Press reported. In 2003, Knight underwent a bone-marrow transplant for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the resulting radiation therapy left him in physical and emotional pain, according to a statement from the family. "He was tired of the pain and after much contemplation, chose to end his life in a beautiful and a serene place," the statement said.

The youngest son of Pastor Rick Warren, a world-famous Orange County evangelical pastor, has committed suicide, according to a statement sent by Warren and his wife to his congregation. Matthew Warren, 27, the son of the leader of Saddleback  Church in Lake Forest, died after battling depression for much of his life, the statement said. Matthew was an “incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate man. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room.

The Riverside City College student body president convicted of kidnapping and committing lewd acts with a child confirmed his status as a sex offender Thursday. But Doug Figueroa, 40, emphasized that he pleaded guilty, in part so that he “could immediately engage in … proactive change in my life.” In an email to The Times, Figueroa said he enrolled in school and became involved on campus to help foster that change. “My heart does go out to any victim of any kind of abuse,” he wrote in the email.

Evangelist Billy Graham effectively endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, hailing his “values and strong moral convictions” as well as his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Hours after Romney visited the ailing Graham at his home in Montreat, N.C., on Thursday, the evangelist issued a statement that did not explicitly endorse the GOP nominee, but left little doubt about his preference. “It was a privilege to pray with Gov. Romney - for his family and our country,” the statement read.

This post has been corrected. See below for details. Take that, Morrissey. The Season 3 premiere of "Duck Dynasty," A&E's reality-comedy series about an offbeat Louisiana bayou family that runs a successful duck-calling business, scored 8.6 million viewers, making it the top-rated broadcast in the cable network's history. The back-to-back episodes airing Wednesday made "Duck Dynasty" the top-rated nonfiction series on cable this year. "Duck Dynasty" centers on the Robertson family, where the adult men all have very heavy beards and personalities that frequently clash with comic results.

Britain's Daily Mail has issued an unusual high-profile apology and will pay an unspecified settlement to Journey guitarist Neal Schon in connection with an article that falsely characterized him as a "deadbeat dad" who slighted his children and ex-wife while showering his fiancee with pricey jewelry. The newspaper issued its statement regarding Schon and fiancee Michaele Salahi on the U.K. Home page of its Mail Online website. "We accept that these allegations are untrue and apologise to Mr. Schon, Ms. Salahi and the family for any distress caused," the statement said.

The Riverside City College student body president is a registered sex offender who has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and committing lewd acts with a child less than 14 years old. School officials knew about the status of Doug Robert Figueroa, 40, prior to his run for office, but in a statement, they said they had “determined that there was no policy, statute or ordinance that could prohibit this student from seeking office as student body president”...

The parents, brother and a male friend of Tyler Clementi, a gay Rutgers University student who committed suicide in 2010 after learning that his date with the friend had been secretly videotaped by his roommate, Dharun Ravi, urged a judge Monday to give Ravi prison time. They made their pleas through victim impact statements read to the packed courtroom where Ravi was to be sentenced. The man who was with Clementi in the secret videotape -- identified only as M.B. to protect his privacy -- said he believed Ravi had “exploited” his budding relationship with Clementi, 18, when he secretly videotaped them in an intimate encounter in September 2010 in the room that Ravi and Clementi shared.