Corpse looter apologizes in court

NEW YORK - The mastermind behind a multimillion-dollar scheme to loot hundreds of corpses and sell their body parts apologized yesterday to families of the victims and thousands of tissue recipients. Michael Mastromarino, a former oral surgeon who owned Biomedical Tissue Services, told victims of the scheme he was sorry for the pain and grief he caused. The New Jersey company shipped bones, skin, and tendons to tissue processors. Mastromarino was in court for a sentencing hearing, but the sentencing was postponed because the probation report wasn't finished. He is to be sentenced June 22. The families asked that Mastromarino be sentenced to the maximum 54 years. (AP)

NEW YORK - A Manhattan grand jury dismissed all criminal charges against Alain Robert, the French "Spiderman," who last week scaled a New York skyscraper, his lawyer said yesterday. Robert scaled the 52-story, 1,142-foot skyscraper last Thursday and unveiled a banner in protest against inaction over global warming. Six hours later another climber, Renaldo Clarke, made an apparent copycat ascent to raise awareness of malaria that was broadcast live on television. Prosecutors charged both men with misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and reckless endangerment as well as disorderly conduct. Clarke is due back in court next month. (Reuters)

ARLINGTON - A cable snapped as a construction crane was being lifted off the ground yesterday at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium, injuring at least three people, a team spokesman said. One worker was hit by the cable and had to be flown to a hospital, Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels said. Two other workers managed to jump out of the way of the cable but were injured, he said. They were taken to a hospital by ambulance. A spokeswoman at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas said one person was in critical condition and two were in fair condition. (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL - The Apollo-era launch pad used to shoot the space shuttle Discovery into orbit two weeks ago may have been flawed from the day it was built and will need weeks, if not months, of work to fix all the liftoff damage, NASA said yesterday. About 5,300 bricks flew off the pad during Discovery's launch on May 31, exposing a thick concrete wall underneath. The pad was built for the Apollo missions, but it looks as though the bricks did not adhere properly to the wall of the flame trench when they were installed in the 1960s, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team. (AP)