Man sought in killing of estranged wife

Authorities were searching yesterday for a Pittsfield man who was charged with the murder of his estranged wife. An arrest warrant was issued for Seymour Townsend, 35, who was at large yesterday afternoon. His estranged wife, 27-year-old Michelle Townsend, was reported missing Saturday and found dead in Seymour's apartment Monday. Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless said an autopsy was scheduled for today. The Townsends' four children, ages 2 to 7, have been living with Michelle Townsend's mother. (AP)

MARLBOROUGH

A former Marlborough resident who spent 10 years in prison on a rape conviction before being exonerated by DNA testing has settled his lawsuit against the city for $2 million. Eric R. Sarsfield, 42, of Clinton, had asked for at least $10 million in damages in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and several police officers. The city faced possible bankruptcy if it lost at trial, city lawyer James Agoritsas said. The lawsuit already has cost taxpayers about $400,000, and Agoritsas estimated another $500,000 in legal costs for a trial. Sarsfield was awarded $500,000 by the state last year for wrongful imprisonment. (AP)

BOSTON

Eric M. Turner, a former head of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, has resigned from the board of Catholic Charities of Boston. He was the eighth member to quit over the Catholic bishops' decision to seek to exclude gays from adopting through the agency, but his name was not made public. Last Wednesday, seven members publicly stepped down, with a statement criticizing the bishops for seeking to ban gay adoptions through Catholic Charities, the social service arm of the church. Yesterday, Turner acknowledged to the Globe that he had left the panel last week for the same reasons.

Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals -- including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital -- have agreed to openly acknowledge medical errors and other bad results to their patients and to train their staffs in how to apologize. The consensus statement was drafted by a group of physicians, patients, and executives from the hospitals, led by Dr. Lucian Leape of the Harvard School of Public Health. Each hospital still must determine how to implement the policy.

CONCORD, N.H.

The state would inspect and license crematoriums under rules passed by the House yesterday. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would require crematoriums to be licensed, would establish rules for handling remains, and mandate certain documentation. It provides for fines of up to $20,000 per violation. The tighter rules were prompted by discoveries last winter at a Seabrook crematorium where investigators found human remains inappropriately handled and other serious problems. (AP)

Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson is back on the job after spending a month receiving treatment for an alcohol problem. ''He is going to kind of ease back into things," Robinson spokesman Mike Barwell said yesterday. The New Hampshire bishop returned from treatment last week and came into the office Monday for the first time in a month. The Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop disclosed last month that he was being treated for his ''increasing dependence" on alcohol. (AP)

HINGHAM

A Rockland man died, and Route 3 was closed for about two hours after a four-car wreck during Monday's evening commute, State Police said. John Solletti, 31, of Rockland, died after he rear-ended a Volkswagen Jetta while traveling southbound in a Honda Civic. The Civic then traveled across the median, striking a Jeep Grand Cherokee head-on. The Jeep, operated by Joanne Bergin, 53, of Weymouth, was then struck by a northbound Toyota Corolla operated by Elizabeth Garvin, 23, of Quincy. State Police said Solletti, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at South Shore Hospital. Bergin was at Quincy Medical Center with serious injuries, and Garvin was at South Shore Hospital with minor injuries.