Wednesday, July 09, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 355 • 14 of 30

News from the

Judge questions charge in North Dakota killing

• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The judge overseeing a homicide trial in Bismarck is questioning whether prosecutors filed the right charge in the case.
• Joshua Clark, 20, is on trial on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Authorities allege that Clark and Theo Crowe, 26, conspired last year to kill John Swain, 18, who had recently moved to Bismarck from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when he was slain and dismembered in an apparent random killing.
• Crowe pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in the case last October and was sentenced in January to life in prison. On Tuesday he refused to testify against Clark.
• "I don't want anything to do with this," he said in court.
• A conspiracy charge requires agreement among at least two people. Without Crowe's testimony, Judge Bruce Haskell said he was "struggling with the agreement part of this" and questioned whether a different charge against Clark might be more appropriate.
• "Maybe we've got accomplice or facilitating here," Haskell said. "Maybe we've got a couple other things."
• However, Haskell denied a defense motion that Clark be acquitted on the con

spiracy charge, saying the jury should weigh the evidence.
• Authorities allege Clark and Crowe killed Swain in May 2013, cut off his legs and hid his body at the home of Crowe's grandmother in Poplar, Montana. The body was found in June 2013.
• Crowe could face life in prison if convicted.

Lincoln County flood damage estimated at $2M

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Officials in Lincoln County estimate recent flood damage to roads and bridges at more than $2 million.
• Emergency Manager Harold Timmerman tells the Argus Leader newspaper that "the damage is massive." He says road repairs are underway, and officials hope to complete the work by the time the ground freezes later this year.
• County Commissioner David Gillespie says officials have identified at least 40

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