European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes . Tuesday May 18,1993 Kevorkian arrested after witnessing suicide s. I doctor s attorney denies Michigan new Law was broken Detroit a or. Jack Kevorkian known As doctor death for helping terminally ill and pain racked people commit suicide was arrested Sunda when police found him at the Side of a cancer victim who had killed  the doctor s lawyer denied Kevorkian had Woken Michigan s new Law against assisted suicide. There s no Way they can find any jury that will con vict him said attorney Geoffrey Fieger. It s not crime to be present when someone commits  Ron Mansur 54, committed suicide sunday at his Detroit real estate office by breathing Carbon monoxide through a mask. Kevorkian who had assisted in 15 other suicides since 1990, witnessed Mansur s death Fieger said. Kevorkian was arrested and released into his attorney s custody police said. Assistant Wayne county prosecutor George Ward said his office was awaiting word from police before deciding whether to bring charges. Kevorkian refused to answer questions from report ers outside the police station. Michigan passed a Law in february making it a felony to assist in a suicide punishable by up to four years imprison. Kevorkian had vowed to ignore the Law but later said he would wait until a constitutional Challenge was decided before helping another person to die. At a news conference Fieger said he did not know Why Kevorkian chose to be present at Mansur s suicide knowing Jack he cares about suffering people and believes suffering people have the right to decide their own destinies he said. Fieger said Mansur who had Bone and lung cancer pulled a clip that allowed the Carbon monoxide to flow five Yean after the photo at left was taken cancer victim Ron Mansur lies in bed saturday a Day before his suicide. Into a Gas mask. Fieger said he did not know whether Kevorkian had supplied the suicide apparatus. In a departure from earlier suicides none of Kevorkian s assistants was present Fieger said. Detroit police were called to the Ford Mansur co. Real estate office sunday morning. When they arrived Kevorkian was present and Mansur was dead said officer Rhoda Virgil Madison. Neighbors Tony and Monica Arnold said Mansur s health had declined markedly in recent months. Monica Arnold who bought her Home from Man sur s company said he had been working there with his Mother for about Ivi years. She knew he was sick but said i never thought he d do anything like  Telephone numbers for Mansur and his Mother were unpublished. Kevorkian 64, a retired pathologist was charged with murder in his first three assisted suicides. But charges were dropped because Michigan had no Law against the practice. California officials suspended Kevorkian s medical License on april 27, meaning he can no longer practice Medicine anywhere in the United states. His License to practice in Michigan was suspended in 1991. Man charged with receiving dead aunt s pension Miami a Olive Preito was a Florida Grade school teacher who retired in 1947 at age 64. In the decades that Fol Lowed her monthly pension grew from about $50 to More than $500. The trouble was that she died in 1950. Investigators arrested her 72-year-old Nephew thursday after secretly filming him cashing the most recent Check police. Said the take since her death was $125,000, authorities said. For 40 years we had no reason to be suspicious said Pat Connolly chief of Florida s Bureau of Benefit payments. There were even letters in her files Dat ing from the 70s a change of address and that sort of thing. There Are verifications on file that she was still living up until we caught  Lars Copeland was charged with grand theft and 36 counts of forgery one for each of the retirement checks he allegedly cashed Over the past three years the statute of limitations in the Case. State workers got suspicious last year during an audit of retirees Over the age of 100 receiving forms showed that a relative had Power of attorney Over Preito s account but auditors could t reach her by Tele phone. Copeland eventually told auditors that his aunt was weak but still alive police said. But he never produced her notarized signature As promised. A month later Copeland called Back and said his aunt had just died. Her death certificate however did not sur face when auditors checked. Investigators looked Back 10 years then 20, then 40 years. Months later they found it Olive Preito born Jan. 8, 1886. Died May 9,1950. Preito had been earning about $50 a month when she retired from the Frank Lin county school District. Adjustments for inflation and other increases eventually increased her monthly pension to $545.46. State authorities suspect Copeland s late Mother Preito s sister first started cashing the checks after Preito died. Top Frog is a Tad Short in Calaveras county jump Angels Camp Calif. Up the memory of Mark Twain was re Vived again sunday in the form of 50 healthy hoppin contenders pouncing it out in the finals of the world s most famous Frog jumping contest. The annual affair first made famous in Twain s the celebrated jumping Frog of Calaveras county published 127 years ago saw no re cords set this year. The top jumper you can croak jumped 19 feet 6 inches. The runner up Lisa Longleaf had a leap of 18 feet 9 inches. Twain s Story first appeared in 1865 in the new York saturday press and garnered Praise As a masterpiece of Western humor. It eventually generated a web footed War that put tiny Calaveras county and its annual fair on the map. Residents of Angels Camp launched the first Frog jump in 1928 to celebrate newly paved streets. A handful of people thought it was such a great idea that they made it a yearly event and established the an gels boosters club which still produces the contest. From the thousands of frogs entered worldwide the top 50 who qual Ify compete for a top prize of $5,000 to any Frog who Breaks the current re Cord set in 1986 by Rosie the Ribier with a jump of 21 feet 53/4 inches. In 1990, the contest made National headlines when a Seattle animal col Lector tried to enter 30 african Goliath frogs. Despite weighing in from two to 10 pounds the frogs performed poorly then and in a subsequent try in 1992. Bubble baby treated with new Gene therapy los Angeles a a 5-Day-Oldboy has undergone a new Type of Gene therapy that doctors Hope will cure his rare immunity disorder and Lead to treat ments for More common diseases. Andrew Gobea was drinking formula and sleeping soundly in a Bassinet Sun Day a Day after undergoing the two min Ute procedure at children s Hospital los Angeles. He slept through the treatment. We just want him to get better said Andrew s father Leonard Gobea 20, of Holtville. That s our main concern we want him to get better and go Home an grow up and play  Andrew is the first infant to undergo a procedure to cure a genetic disorder known As Bubble baby disease which leaves infants unable to fight diseases about 100 american babies Are born with the disorder every year. If untreated babies often die before their first birthday after contracting com Mon childhood ailments. If the Gene therapy works Andrew will be spared a More painful Bone marrow procedure and a lifetime of expensive drug injections said or. Donald b. Kohn who performed the treatment. Andrew s disorder severe combined immunodeficiency was passed Down from his parents who carry the genetic blueprint for it but Don t actually have it. A similar kind of Gene therapy has been used on five older children in Europe in rec Eju months. But Andrew s treatment uses blood from the umbilical Cord rather than Bone marrow As required of older patients. A Newborn at the University of California san Francisco was scheduled to undergo the treatment monday. Doctor s believe the blood from the umbilical Cord could cure the disease and eliminate the need for the follow up drugs. Doctors Are optimistic the therapy canals be used for sickle cell anaemia and Haemophilia even possibly As a treatment for aids