Fourth person charged in abduction plot

A fourth person has been charged in an apparent kidnapping scheme that unraveled with an attempt to burn a Brighton apartment with the victim inside, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. Domonic Campbell, 20, of Cambridge pleaded not guilty to charges including arson, assault with attempt to murder, and kidnapping with intent to extort money while armed and was held on $50,000 cash bail. Three others - Cheerley Chevalier, 30, of Taunton; Farrah Girault, 29, of Roxbury; and Jill Jacques, 23, of Allston had already been charged in connection with the alleged abduction of a 24-year-old Allston man Sunday and an attempt to extort $5,000 in ransom money from his family. As police followed family members who were delivering the money and intercepted two people who accepted it, the Boston Fire Department and medics were called to a Glenville Avenue apartment in Allston, where the victim had been beaten and tied to a chair and a fire started.

Governor Deval Patrick has asked the US Small Business Administration to assist the 750 Peabody residents displaced May 29 by a four-alarm apartment building blaze, his office said yesterday. Patrick asked that Essex County be declared a disaster area, so that fire victims can apply for long-term, low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration.

A jury has been seated in the highly publicized trial of Neil Entwistle, the British man accused of shooting to death his wife and daughter in their Hopkinton home, and opening statements are scheduled for this morning. Judge Diane Kottmyer interviewed 187 potential jurors, excusing scores who said they had already formed an opinion as to Entwistle's role in the killings. Eight men and eight women have been empaneled, including four alternates, for the trial in Middlesex Superior Court. Entwistle, 29, is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Rachel, 27, and 9-month-old baby, Lillian Rose.

A couple trying to beat the high cost of gasoline accidentally caused an apartment complex fire, authorities said. Fire Chief Richard Arruda told The Standard-Times of New Bedford that the couple, who were not identified, had about 45 gallons of gasoline in nine plastic jugs stacked in a closet that also housed an air conditioning unit. The gasoline fumes apparently set off yesterday's fire, which was quickly put out by a sprinkler system. No one was seriously hurt, but residents of eight units of the complex were displaced. Arruda said investigators believe the couple were storing the gas because of rising prices. (AP)

A Haverhill woman whose husband was killed while flying 40 years ago said she had not known he had been conducting CIA spying missions. It was only last year that details of Jack Weeks's mission became known when a CIA report was declassified. During a 1968 mission over North Korea, Weeks located the seized ship USS Pueblo. He was killed while flying an A-12 Blackbird spy aircraft out of Okinawa, Japan. His widow, Sharlene Weeks, was on hand Wednesday when the Birmingham, Ala., native was honored in a ceremony at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Ala. (AP)

State Police turned to radio listeners yesterday to track down a pickup truck that had left the scene of four separate hit-and-run collisions. Shortly after 9 a.m., crashes were reported on Route 24 in Middleborough, Avon, and Randolph, and on Route 128 North in Canton, each involving a red Ford F-350 pickup, said State Police Lieutenant Eric Anderson. Police issued an alert through WBZ-AM, and after a driver called, they stopped the truck on Interstate 95 South in Canton. The driver, a 36-year-old man whose name was withheld, was taken into custody and taken to Caritas Norwood Hospital for medical evaluation.