Jury convicts man in ex-girlfriend's death

Residents of a Scituate neighborhood rocked by a natural gas explosion last year have sued Bay State Gas Co. and the estate of the man who investigators said deliberately caused the blast. David Kupris was killed in the Dec. 17 explosion that injured several people in the neighborhood and damaged at least 20 homes. The state fire marshal’s office later ruled that Kupris removed a natural gas drip cap, allowing gas to fill the house, then intentionally ignited the gas. Kupris’s family has disputed the findings. In their lawsuit, several neighbors say Bay State Gas Co. did not respond properly to a report of a strong gas odor prior to the explosion. The company declined comment. (AP)

An undisclosed amount of money was stolen from a donation box Sunday night at Saint Anthony’s Shrine in downtown Boston, police said yesterday. It was not clear how much was stolen from the wooden box on the main chapel’s first floor. Church custodians reported the incident to a church security officer, who escorted the suspect out of the building, police said. The security officer did not know the suspect had stolen money from the box, police said. No arrest was made by yesterday.

The Maine Warden Service has recovered the body of a Massachusetts man who fell from a canoe while fishing on a central Maine lake. Officials said divers recovered the body of Victor Hardmon, 20, of Norton, Mass., at 9:30 a.m. yesterday from Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson. Hardmon and a friend, Brian James Malvey, 20, of Auburn, Mass., were fishing when the canoe capsized at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Malvey and a dog made it to shore, but when he returned to the canoe he could not find Hardmon. Officials said there were no life jackets in the canoe. (AP)

A wind-driven fire destroyed a Seekonk barn, killing about five-dozen farm animals, authorities said. The fire broke out just before 5 p.m. Sunday in the single-story building on Meadow Court, said Fire Chief Alan R. Jack. The owner was able to save some sheep, propane tanks, and gasoline cans, but the other animals could not be rescued.

Services for Army Staff Sergeant Edmond Lo, 23, who died June 13 when a roadside bomb he was trying to disarm exploded, will be held Saturday in Salem, N.H. The Salem High School graduate was serving with the US Army’s 797th Ordnance Company, 79th Battalion, based at Fort Hood, Texas. The funeral Mass is to be said at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Mary Queen of Peace Church in Salem, followed by burial in Pine Grove Cemetery, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. (AP)

A female passenger died yesterday after being thrown from a motorcycle on Interstate 93 south. Witnesses told WMUR-TV the bike appeared to drift onto the shoulder of the interstate between exits 3 and 4 and got caught in some soft shoulder material. The witnesses said it flipped twice, throwing both the driver and passenger. (AP)