February 17

 
Jeffrey Dahmer showed no emotion throughout the court proceedings¹
1992: Cannibal killer² jailed for life
England have

Serial³ killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Wisconsin for murdering and dismembering 15 young men and boys.

Dahmer, 31, was unable to convince the jury that his cannibalism⁴ andnecrophiliawere the result of madness.

He was given 15 consecutive⁵ life sentences and will never be eligible⁶ for parole.

Dahmer's trial, which ended in Milwaukee on Saturday night (15 February), included some of the most gruesome evidence ever heard in a US courtroom.

It also became a test case of the insanity⁷ defence seldom used in America.

He has escaped the death sentence because Wisconsin is one of the few states which does not have capital punishment.

After sentence was passed, Dahmer read a statement to the court. In a calm voice he said: "I never wanted freedom. Frankly⁸, I wanted death for myself. I knew I was sick or evil or both.

"Doctors have told me about my sickness and now I have some peace. I know how much harm I have caused. I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families."

Victims' families were in court and some lashed⁹ out at the bullet-proof screen, which was all that separated them from the man described by his own lawyer as "a steamrolling, killing¹⁰ machine".

Rita Isbell, sister of victim Errol Lindsey, lunged at Dahmer screaming: "You are Satan. I want to kill you."

Tears rolled down the face of Donald Bradehof, brother of another victim, as he said: "We lost the baby of our family - I hope you go to hell."

Dahmer tended to prey¹¹ on young gay black men. The court was told how he drugged them with sleeping pills and practised crude lobotomies on the brains of three of them. Various body parts were found in his flat.

His lawyers argued he suffered from necrophilia, a compulsive desire to have sex with corpses¹². But the prosecution¹³ claimed Dahmer had chosen his victims carefully and had not intended to kill them all.

There has been criticism of the Milwaukee police for failing to realise there was a serial killer operating in the city.
 
 
 
 
 
The plane came down near Gatwick airport
1959: Turkish leader involved in fatal crash
 
Artificially 1969:
The Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes has survived an air crash near London that killed 12 people.
Mr Menderes was on his way to the British capital for talks on Cyprus with the British, Greek and Cypriot premiers¹⁴ when his Viscount jet crashed in Jordan's Wood, near Newdigate in Surrey.

Only 10 of the 22 passengers and crew on board the Turkish Government aircraft survived and two were critically injured.

An official from the Ministry¹⁵ of Civil Aviation said it was the worst crash he had seen.

Turkish press secretary Sefik Penmen told an impromptu¹⁶ conference at London Clinic: "The Prime Minister's condition is quite satisfactory and a bulletin will be issued at 1000 tomorrow. He is feeling quite alright, though he is very sorry about what has happened to his friends."

The plane - from Istanbul - was diverted from Gatwick Airport because of fog and was due to arrive at London Airport at 1600 GMT when it went missing off the radar¹⁷.

Local resident Margaret Bailey, a trained nurse, was one of the first on the scene - three miles along the flight path from Gatwick - shortly after 1700 GMT.

At about that time the plane carrying Greek Prime Minister Constantin Karamanlis landed at Gatwick without incident.

The Turkish jet lost its wings and had its engines torn off as it ploughed 300 yards through the wood and landed upside down with trees embedded¹⁸ in the mangled¹⁹ fuselage and burst into flames.

Three divisions from Surrey Fire Brigade put out the resulting fires although their efforts were hampered²⁰ by thick fog.

After receiving first aid at Mrs Bailey's farmhouse²¹, 200 yards away, Mr Menderes was taken to hospital in London 90 minutes later.

Other casualties are being treated at hospitals in East Grinstead, Redhill and Dorking.

The Queen and Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus have sent messages of sympathy.
 
 
 
 
Vocabulary:
 
necrophilia: an irresistible sexual attraction to dead bodies（恋尸狂）