Around the Region

BLOOMFIELD, Ind. -- A Linton woman accused of fatally shooting her husband first tried to hire her boyfriend and two of her teenage daughter's friends to carry out the killing, investigators said.\nConstance B. Tomich, 35, was arrested late Thursday night on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She is being held without bond at the Greene County Jail.\nIf convicted of both charges, she could face up to 115 years in prison, although prosecutors have not ruled out seeking the death penalty.\nProsecutors said that on Feb. 14, Tomich shot her husband, Ronald Tomich, twice in the head after grabbing the gun away from a teenage girl she had hired to commit the crime but who wavered at the last minute.\nAccording to a probable cause affidavit, Tomich first asked a man with whom she had been romantically involved with for several years to kill her husband, but he refused.\nThe affidavit said Tomich then approached a male juvenile and offered him money to shoot her husband, but he also refused.\nInvestigators said Tomich then offered a female juvenile several hundred dollars to kill her husband, and that the girl apparently accepted the offer and took some money as an advance payment.\nThe girl told police that after the male juvenile drove her and Tomich's teenage daughter home from school on Feb. 14, Tomich brought a handgun to her daughter's room and gave it to the girl.\nThe girl said she walked into a hallway but began shaking when she saw Ronald Tomich and indicated she could not fire the gun, the affidavit said.\nTomich took the gun away from her and shot her husband four times, according to the affidavit.\nFishers man given 22 months in jail over false terrorism tip\nINDIANAPOLIS -- A Fishers man was sentenced to 22 months in prison Friday for making a false tip to the FBI that terrorists planned to drive fuel trucks into schools, churches, synagogues and shopping malls.\nBrian Seifert, a 45-year-old computer specialist, also was ordered to serve three years on supervised release after he leaves prison. U.S. District Judge Larry J. McKinney also fined Seifert $2,000.\nProsecutors said Seifert told federal law enforcement officials on Oct. 8, 2001, that a man of Middle Eastern descent gave him a computer disk and asked him to retrieve hidden messages containing details of future attacks.\nThe investigation of the threat took more than 3,400 hours and cost taxpayers about $100,000, the FBI has said.\nSeifert eventually admitted he made up the story, authorities said.\nGovernment officials considered the tip by Seifert serious enough to brief Vice President Dick Cheney, and agencies across the nation spent six weeks investigating the claim, U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks said.\n"False reports drain already overburdened public safety agencies, a well as create undue alarm at a time in this country where there is legitimate concern," Brooks said.\nBrown County man accused of moving gravestones\nNASHVILLE, Ind. -- A Brown County man is awaiting a trial on charges that he moved grave markers at a historic cemetery to make room for a septic system for his home.\nDaniel B. Scalpelli, 47, of Morgantown, was accused in December 2001 with disturbing graves in the Fleetwood Cemetery.\nScalpelli faces a felony charge of disturbing a cemetery without a permit, and misdemeanor charges of cemetery mischief and moving a grave memorial without a recording.\nA bench trial is set for May 21 in Brown County Circuit Court.\nRevolutionary war veteran William Wilkerson, who died in Brown County in 1842, is among those buried in the cemetery.\nIU archaeologist Cheryl Munson, an advocate for stricter laws to protect cemeteries, said she believes the case could be a landmark decision.\nProsecutor Jim Oliver said he was unaware of any similar cases in the state.\n"I've never had a case like this before," he said. "We do have a Revolutionary War veteran buried there, so it's garnered a lot of attention."\nCourt documents allege Scalpelli did not obtain a permit from the Historic Preservation Division of the state Department of Natural Resources and did not file any documents with the county recorder's office.\nScalpelli could not be reached for comment Saturday. A message was left at his home by The Associated Press.