Police probe apparent murder-suicide

Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in which a 42-year-old man stabbed his girlfriend to death in her Upton home before turning the knife on himself, a spokesman for the Worcester district attorney's office said yesterday. Authorities believe that Thomas Lizotte of Millville stabbed 37-year-old Dawn Armstrong, whose co-workers became worried after she did not come to work Saturday, said Tim Connolly, spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Yesterday morning, when Armstrong failed to show up for work again at McIntyre Loam Inc. in Hopkinton where she was a secretary, a co-worker called police and asked that someone check on her at her Elm Street home. Just before 8 a.m., Upton police entered the house through a side door and found the bodies inside, Connolly said.

The state will help brain-injured patients move out of nursing homes and into communities, under a proposed settlement to a lawsuit. The agreement filed in US District Court in Springfield yesterday is subject to final approval from a judge. Representatives of four brain-injured patients and the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts filed the lawsuit last year. They argued that the state had violated federal disability law by failing to provide community services for people with brain injuries, leaving many trapped in nursing homes and institutions. (AP)

A Lawrence teenager who was accused of taking anti-ulcer pills to induce an abortion has been given pretrial probation. Amber Abreu was 18 when she prematurely delivered a baby girl weighing just 1 1/4 pounds at a Lawrence hospital in January 2006. The baby died, and Abreu was indicted by an Essex County grand jury on a charge of procuring a miscarriage. Yesterday, Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy ordered Abreu to have mental health treatment as appropriate. If she complies with the order, the case will be dismissed in April 2009. (AP)

A witness says a Cranston firefighter punched a former Providence police officer once before the former officer shot him dead. Nicholas Gianquitti is charged with murder in the shooting death of his neighbor, Firefighter James Pagano, during a children's birthday party last month in Cranston. Gianquitti appeared for a bail hearing that began yesterday in Kent County Superior Court and will continue today. Anthony Pagano, the victim's father, testified that the fight started when a group of children playing baseball hit a tennis ball into Gianquitti's car. Gianquitti swore at the children and warned them to move the game. Anthony Pagano says his son confronted Gianquitti and struck him during an argument. He says Gianquitti then pulled a handgun and shot his son. (AP)

New Hampshire residents renewing their driver's licenses will now be issued 60-day temporary ID cards before being mailed permanent ones. The temporary licenses will allow the state to allow for permanent licenses to be made with added security features that will improve their authenticity and deter counterfeiters, said Jim Dongen, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Safety. Previously, all first-time New Hampshire license applicant and visa holders were issued 60-day temporary licenses, while state residents getting a renewal did not. Now, those who are visa holders and employment authorization cardholders must go to the Concord office, while permanent residents, refugees, and those granted asylum may apply for renewals at any branch office. (AP)

The family of a Greenwich man who disappeared during his honeymoon cruise says his widow agreed to an inadequate settlement with the cruise line to avoid embarrassing disclosures about her conduct. The parents and sister of George Smith IV have appealed a probate settlement of more than $1 million between Royal Caribbean and Jennifer Hagel-Smith. George Smith was on a honeymoon cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean ship in July 2005 when he vanished somewhere between Greece and Turkey, following a night of heavy drinking. The cruise line said his wife was found passed out on a floor far from their cabin. Hagel-Smith agreed to the settlement with Royal Caribbean in June 2006. A Greenwich probate judge approved the deal last month. (AP)