FBI takes the lead in Boston probe

Justine Franco of Montpelier, Vt., holds up a sign near Copley Square in Boston looking for her missing friend, April, who was running in her first Boston Marathon Monday, April 15, 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 23 others. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is taking charge in the criminal investigation of the explosions at the Boston Marathon.

The announcement came Monday night at a news conference inBoston whose participants included Richard DesLauriers, the agent in charge of the FBI in Boston.

Also on Monday night, the FBI said it had set up a phone line for members of the public to call with information about the explosions to contact the law enforcement agency. The call-in number is 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), prompt (hash)3.

"No piece of information or detail is too small," the FBI said in urging the public to respond.

The FBI said it is seeking information, visual images or details regarding the explosions along the marathon route and elsewhere.

Earlier Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder directed the full resources of the Justice Department be deployed to investigate the bombs that exploded at the near the marathon's finish line.

A department official said Holder had spoken with FBI Director Robert Mueller and with Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. The official said Ortiz's office was coordinating the department's response with the FBI and other federal, state and local law enforcement authorities.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record.

Two bombs exploded, killing three people and injuring many others. A senior U.S. intelligence official said two other explosive devices were found nearby.

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Associated Press writer Pete Yost contributed to this report.

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Russia is ready to help in the investigation of the terrorist attack in Boston

April 16 11:28

President Vladimir Putin condemns terrorist attack in Boston, expressed condolences to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and said that Russia is ready to help in the investigation of this crime, RIA Novosti reported with reference to the press service of the Kremlin.

"The Russian president stressed that Russia would be ready, if necessary, to assist in connection with the investigation by the U.S. authorities," - said in a statement.

Two explosions on Monday at the marathon finish line.

At last report, three people died, 144 injured, 17 of the state is estimated to be critical.

Putin has strongly condemned this barbaric crime and expressed his belief that the fight against terrorism requires the coordination of efforts of the world community", - said the press service.

http://mn.ru/politics_foreign/20130416/344088071.html

New York's assault weapon registration begins

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Key measures of New York's tough new gun law kicked in Monday, with owners of firearms now reclassified asassault weapons required to start registering the firearms and new limits on the number of bullets allowed in magazines.

As the new provisions took effect, New York's affiliate of theNational Rifle Association planned to file a court request for a federal injunction to immediate halt to the magazine limit.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls those and other provisions in the state's new gun law common sense while dismissing criticisms he says come from "extreme fringe conservatives" who claim the government has no right to regulate guns.

"Yes, they are against it, but they are the extremists and the extremists shouldn't win, especially on this issue when it is so important to the majority," Cuomo said in a radio interview last week. "In politics, we have to be willing to take on the extremists, otherwise you will see paralysis."

New York's new gun restrictions, the first in the nation passed following December's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, limit state gun owners to no more than seven bullets in magazines, except at competitions or firing ranges.

The new regulations in New York commence as the U.S. Senate prepares to debate expanded gun legislation and weeks after Connecticut joined Colorado in signing into law tougher new gun restrictions.

The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, the state's NRA affiliate, has a pending federal lawsuit against the new provisions. Attorney Brian Stapleton said the request for an immediate halt to the magazine limit would be filed electronically, probably late Monday or possibly early Tuesday.

The law violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens "to keep commonly possessed firearms" at home for self-defense and for other lawful purposes, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association said in court papers. It is advising members to obey the law in the meantime.

"We are lawful and legal citizens of New York state and we always obey the law," association President Tom King said. "It's as simple as that."

The new registrations, required over the next year, will be the group's focus later, King said.

State Police posted forms Monday on their website for registration, which can be filed electronically. Owners of those guns, now banned from in-state sales, are required within a year to register them. Alternatively, they can legally sell them to a licensed dealer or out of state by next Jan. 15.

Rich Davenport, recording secretary of the Erie County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, said their nearly 11,000 members are united in opposition to the law, which he considers a hasty, illogical and emotional response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. He also questioned likely compliance with the registration requirement.

"I'm guessing it'll be pretty low," said Davenport, a longtime hunter. He said that even though he's not personally affected by the registration provision, "I'm offended as an American."

The toughest part of the new statute — banning in-state sales of those guns newly classified as "assault weapons" — immediately took effect Jan. 15. The new classification related to a single military-style feature, such as a pistol grip on semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines. Other listed features include a folding or thumbhole stock, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, or second protruding grip held by the non-trigger hand.

It requires owners to register an estimated 1 million guns previously not classified as assault weapons by April 15, 2014, though law enforcement officials acknowledge they don't know exactly how many such guns New Yorkers have.

The assault weapon definition also applies to some shotguns and handguns. They include shotguns that are semi-automatic, or self-loading, and have another feature, such as a folding stock, a second handgrip held by the non-shooting hand or the ability to accept a detachable magazine.

Also covered are semi-automatic pistols that can take detachable magazines and have another feature, such as a folding or thumbhole stock, a second handgrip and a threaded barrel that can accept a silencer.

Many county boards in New York have passed resolutions urging at least partial repeal of the law while warning that new registration requirements would be a costly burden on them.

Herkimer County Clerk Sylvia Rowan said Thursday she had received no registration forms for those guns. "There's a lot of confusion on this," she said.

Rowan noted that she had received few formal requests filed from the holders of the county's 12,000 pistol permits to exempt their information from public disclosure, something else authorized under the new law.

Passed Jan. 15, a month after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the statute originally banned magazines with more than seven bullets effective April 15. Connecticut officials said that shooter Adam Lanza used a semi-automatic Bushmaster AR-15 and five 30-round magazines to kill 20 children and six adults in minutes.

However, acknowledging that manufacturers don't make seven-bullet magazines, the Cuomo administration and New York lawmakers amended their law on March 29, keeping 10-bullet magazines legal but generally illegal to load them with more than seven bullets.

The statute restates the ban on magazines with capacity to hold more than 10 bullets, while adding also banning those that were grandfathered in under the old law.

The new Colorado bill, signed into law last month, bans ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

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Online:

State Police gun law guidance, registration form:

Lawyer: Utah dad 'devastated' over son's killing

PROVO, Utah (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting his 5-month-old son is "devastated" about it, the man's lawyer said Monday at an initial court appearance.

Joshua Petersen, 21, of American Fork is accused of placing his son, Ryker, on a sofa and shooting him in the head with a rifle on April 5. Petersen then tried to kill himself before a family member intervened, police said.

The shooting occurred in American Fork, a suburb of Provo located about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Fourth District Court Judge Claudia Laycock laid out the seriousness of his charge, aggravated murder, during Monday's hearing. Petersen wore a green jail jumpsuit and was unshaven with his hair disheveled.

Prosecutors will decide whether to seek the death penalty after Petersen is arraigned and enters a plea to the charge, Deputy Utah County Attorney Craig Johnson told The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/YKJeGC ). He also could face life in prison if convicted.

Petersen is being held without bond.

Investigators said Petersen was upset when his girlfriend broke up with him and plotted for a month to shoot his son. Petersen's family members said he also suffered from lifelong depression.

Petersen's attorney, Dusty Kawai, said he's trying to evaluate the man's mental state. Petersen is absolutely devastated, evidenced by his somber and distant demeanor in court, he said.

"What I think you are seeing is just the physical evidence of how devastated he is," Kawai told the Deseret News. "He calls me and he is just bawling. He is weeping. I've seen a lot of very sad people in my career and his is at the top of this list."

Kawai said he has not yet asked Petersen specifically about the shooting, saying that would be too difficult for Petersen at this point. Family members cried as they left Monday's hearing.

"They loved Josh's son, and Josh loved his son, and this is just a tragic, tragic situation," Kawai told the Deseret News.

Petersen is expected back in court on April 29.

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Woman, 84, Allegedly Plotted to Kill, Hospitalize Texas Prosecutors

Woman, 84, Allegedly Plotted to Kill, Hospitalize Texas Prosecutors (ABC News)

An 84-year-old woman serving jail time on a theft charge in Texasallegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill one county prosecutor and hospitalize another, and to make it look similar to the Kaufman County prosecutor killings.

Dorothy Canfield, was charged with solicitation of capital murder and attempt to commit aggravated assault for plotting to killMontgomery County Assistant District Attorney Robert Freyer and put District Attorney Brett Ligon "in the hospital for two to three weeks," according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"Dorothy Canfield hoped to capitalize on the tragic murder of the Kaufman County District Attorney, his wife, and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse to disrupt the prosecution of her theft charge in the most violent way possible," Ligon said in the statement.

"Criminals that plot to threaten and harm those in law enforcement and prosecution need to know that we are watching," he said.

The alleged plot comes after the fatal shooting of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, whose bodies were found in their Forney, Texas, home March 30. Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down in January outside the county courthouse.

Canfield was being held in Montgomery County Jail in Conroe on a property theft charge that involves allegations that she posed as an immigration attorney to con clients, The Associated Press reported. Bond was set at $500,000 in that case.

The Texas Rangers were tipped off to Canfield's alleged plot by a confidential informant, and authorities then monitored Canfield's communications from jail, the DPS statement said.

Canfield was given the name and number of an undercover Harris County District Attorney investigator, who met with her in jail to discuss her plans, . She allegedly agreed to pay the undercover officer $5,000 to kill Freyer, and $2,500 to injure Ligon.

In a recording provided to ABC News by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, Canfield told the undercover agent to "make it look good."

In the recording, the undercover agent is heard telling Canfield that once he carried out her plot and word spread about the killing, the news coverage was "going to be crazy."

"I know that, and I'm looking forward to it," she is heard telling the undercover officer.

Canfield confessed to her alleged plan in an interview with two Texas Rangers on Monday, according to authorities.

When she was showed pictures of an unrelated crime scene and investigators pretended Freyer had been killed, Canfield showed no remorse, officials said.

According to court records, Canfield has an extensive criminal history involving numerous theft charges and prison time, the AP reported.

Online jail records don't list an attorney for Canfield. No bond was set with respect to the two newest charges.

Freyer told ABC News he could not comment on the alleged plot since he has the potential of becoming a witness in the case.