Six believed killed
prior to Harlem blaze
NATIONAL
NEW YORK (API — Firefighters
answering a coll for a small fire made a
gruesome discovery: six Inidie* lying in a
blood-soaked apartment Three were chil
dren, including an 18-month-old found in
her crib
Firefighter* battling Monday morning'* blaze at I ho Jefferson
Housing project in Manhattan's East Harlem first thought thu
victims had succumbed to smoke But a* they carried the bod
ies out. a different picture emerged
"There was blood everywhere," said l ire El. Ken Schermer
horn But firefighters didn't immediately know that because
smoke had filled the second-floor apartment.
It wasn't until someone broke a window and the smoke
cleared that the crime liecnme evident.
"1 thought I had been walking in water." Schermerhom said
of the bloody floor Ho called it the worst scene he'd ever
encountered in his 20 years of firefighting
Killed were identified Maria Rodriguez, 27; her three chil
dren: Hill Cetz. 11. Jennifer l.etz. 5. and 18-month-old Linda
lavinr; Rodriguez’s mother, Bienvonide Rodriguez, in her ri()s.
and the older Rodriguez's boyfriend. Rafino I,opez. also in his
50s.
The three adults and the 11-year-old were found on the bed
in the master bed room. the 5-vear-old and 18-month-old wore
hi separate liedrooms "The little one was in her i rill." Seller
merhorn said
The fires, in a couch and a tied. appeared to hove been set
to • over up the crime, said Sgt. Kdtilie James, a pole e spokes
woman.
Polii e said there were numerous ( lit and slash marks on
some of the bodies and signs of strangulation on several vic
tims The medical examiner's office will try to determine the
cause of death
No weapon was re< ovured. but investigators theorized it may
have been a cleaver or machete.
There was no sign of forced entry and the apartment hadn t
liecn ransacked
Maria Rodriguez and her children had just mover) into the
eight-building complex in January, said Housing Authority
spokeswoman Amanita Duga-Carroll Her mother recently
joined her after being burned out of her apartment
The family "had no reputation of involvement with drugs."
Duga-Carroll said
Serb peace deters U.S. military
WASHINGTON (AH) — The Serbs came up with
the best defense against President Clinton's deci
sion to apply military pressure to hall the fighting
in Bosnia. They started talking peace.
"So long as there is an active possibility for
p«a< q, the case for military action is weakened."
said Rep. Lee Hamilton. D-Ind., chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The sudden shift in Serbian strategy pointed to
how complicated a task it is to put together the
domestic and international support needed for
military action At home. Clinton has yet to spell
out for the American people why U S. troops
should he placed ai risn in me
Balkan* A CNN-USA Today poll
in late April found 62 percent of
Americans opposed to air strikes
"He has to make out the case
for it, and he hasn't done that yet
Hamilton said of the president
And now an already skeptical
American public hears that Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic has
signed a pence plan that provides
lor on end to the fighting in
Bosnia and division of the former
Yugoslav republic into 10 can
tons
Karadzic '* timing appeared
designed to undermine Se< rvtiirv o! Male Warren
Christopher's mission to win allied support for
using military fort e. in all likelihood limited to air
strikes.
Christopher's first stop was London and the
ret option from Prime Minister John Major and his
government was distinctly cool.
Clinton and Christopher voiced skepticism
about Karadr.it s sudden support for a peaceful
solution to the civil war.
"Wo are not going to be thrown off stride." said
Christopher, pressing on with his search
Hut. as Hamilton put it. the signing of a peace
agreement "dearly complicates Christopher’s mis
sion.”
Reflecting domestic skepticism, many members
of Congress have urged the president to stay out of
the Yugoslav conflict But many who support his
position say he hasn't gone far enough.
Clinton called Sen Richard Lugar on Friday and
a source familiar with the conversation said the
Indiana Republican, an influential member of the
Foreign Relations Committee, urged the president
to stop saying he has ruled out using U S. ground
troops In Bosnia.
Lugar argued that Clinton shouldn't rule out any
military option
When Clinton answered reporters' questions
Monday there was a slight shift in emphasis on the
matter of ground troops.
The president said he was "not interested in
sending our soldiers in there into combat, into a
‘So long as theta is
an active
possibility for
peace, the case for
military action is
weakened.’
— Rep Lee Hamilton,
Foreign At tairs Committee
chairman
naming situation. nui utj iuu
pied that with a reminder (hat he
has expressed willingness to join
an international peacekeeping
force.
Such a force would not go into
Bosnia until all sides had agreed
to stop fighting. In theory, a
peacekeeping force operates in a
non-combat situation. Its pres
ence is enough to deter fighting
between local combatants.
But in reality, an international
peacekeeping force would have
to enter Bosnia with an under
standing of how aggressively it
would keen the peace. Would it
lx* limited to sell-defense? Or would it have a man
date to engage and disarm troops who threaten to
disrupt a cease-fire agreement?
The answers to those questions won't come eas
ily within a NATO alliance already reluctant to
tx'come involved militarily in Bosnia.
That reluctance has made it difficult for Clin
ton to get the attention of combatants in Bosnia
when he talked about the need to take stronger
action
"For a long period of time, the threat of military
force has not l>eun credible." said Hamilton.
f’erhaps the past week has changed that. Clinton
may finally have convinced the Serbs that he is
prepared to commit U S air power and political
influence to ending the fighting.
They also may have realized that by talking
peace they encourage the obvious Western reluc
tance to intervene.
Charges of espionage filed against American employee
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
FBI accused an American
employee of the U.S. Embassy in
Athens of spying Monday but
did not disclose details of the
charges.
The employee. Steven Lalas,
40, of Dover, N.H., was held
without bail after a brief federal
court hearing in Alexandria. Va.
He was advised of his rights by
U.S. Magistrate Barry Poretz,
who will have another hearing
Wednesday to determine
whether there is probable cause
lo continue to hold l,alas with
out bond
The contents of an affidavit
detailing the charges against
him have not been made public.
The FBI arrested him Friday
in northern Virginia just outside
of Washington, D.C.
Slate Department officials
who requested anonymity said
Lalas, a communications officer,
had top secret clearance with
access to cables assessing U S.
policy toward Greece
The FBI is trying to determine
whether Lalas began his espi
onage activity in Greece or had
already started while in Turkey
on a previous tour, said an offi
cial who spoke only on condi
tion of anonymity.
Among the material he would
have had access to at both post
ings is cable traffic relating to
NATO, in which both Turkey
and Greece are members, said
the official. While both are U.S.
allies. Greece and Turkey are
historic rivals.
New York Newsday reported
that Lalas also had access to
voluminous cable traffic con
cerning the situation in Bosnia
and other parts of the former
Yugoslavia.
The FBI refused to say
whether Lalas is accused of
passing secret information to the
Greek government or Greek
intelligence officials.
In Athens, Greek government
spokesman Vassilis Magginas
said. "The Greek government is
totally unaware of the matter."
Lalas has worked for the State
Department since 1983 and was
stationed in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, and in Istanbul,
Turkey, before he was assigned
in Decembei 1990 to the U.S.
Embassy in Athens.
The State Department said
Lalas has been suspended from
his $38.000-a-year job.
iii-i.u .sin
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Walsh still *
has questions
for Bush
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran
Contra investigator Lawrence
Walsh and attorneys for George
Bush apparently have reached
an impasse over fresh efforts to
question the former president,
according to T/ie Washington
Post.
The impasse could mean
Walsh will close out his 6 1/2
year inquiry into the scandal
without ever asking Bush about
his withholding of a secret diary
from investigators, the newspa
per reported in Tuesday edi
tions.
Iran-Contra investigators did
question Bush about the contro
versy while he was still vice
president. But since then the
White House has disclosed that
Bush kept a diary at the time the
Iran-Contra events were unfold
ing