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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, March 7, 2009

CIA destroyed 12 terror tapes

Photo gallery: Seth's Pix

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Auto mechanic Raymond Lee Oyler left Riverside Superior Court yesterday after a jury convicted him of murdering five federal firefighters by setting a wildfire that overran them as they defended a home in Southern California.

Photo by KURT MILLER | Press-Enterprise via AP

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WASHINGTON — The CIA destroyed a dozen videotapes of harsh interrogations of terror suspects, according to documents filed yesterday in a lawsuit over the government's treatment of detainees.

The 12 tapes were part of a larger collection of 92 videotapes of terror suspects that the CIA destroyed. The extent of the tape destruction was disclosed through a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the government.

Heavily redacted papers filed in the case indicate a dozen destroyed tapes show so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques."

CAPTAIN PLEADS GUILTY IN OIL SPILL

SAN FRANCISCO — The pilot at the helm of the cargo ship that caused a massive oil spill in the San Francisco Bay pleaded guilty yesterday to two misdemeanor environmental crimes in exchange for prosecutors dropping felony counts.

Capt. John Cota would serve between two months and 10 months in prison under the plea bargain. Cota was at the helm of the 900-foot Cosco Busan when it slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog on Nov. 7, 2007, and spilled more than 50,000 gallons of oil that killed and injured thousands of birds.

2 CONTRACT KILLERS GIVEN LIFE TERMS

NEW YORK — Two former New York police detectives convicted of moonlighting as contract killers in eight mob hits were sentenced yesterday to life in prison after telling a judge they were innocent.

Louis Eppolito was sentenced to life in prison for his conspiracy conviction plus 100 years for various other offenses including money laundering, and fined $4.7 million. Stephen Caracappa received a life term plus 80 years, and a $4.2 million fine.

Eppolito, 61, and Caracappa, 67, worked as partners on the police force and logged a combined 44 years on the job. They were found guilty of secretly being on the payroll of Luchese underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso starting in the 1980s.

8 PEOPLE KILLED IN PAKISTAN BLAST

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bomb-laden car exploded today in northwest Pakistan as police tried to pull a body from it, authorities said, killing seven police and a bystander.

The attack appeared to be the first against security forces in the region to use a body as a lure. It occurred in the Badaber area, where recently evicted militants have threatened retaliation.