Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 06, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A9 winnipegfreepress. com WORLD WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014 A 9 Made to measure shoes for those who cannot be fitted with regular footwear. 60 YEARS OF CUSTOM- MADE ORTHOPAEDIC SHOES By appointment call Lisa Afanasiev at 204- 889- 0917 101- 420 Des Meurons St. Manitoba WCB . DVA . Blue Cross . WSIB MPIC . Private Insurers . Family Service and Manitoba Provincial Health Services Program VENDOR F O R : N EW YORK - At least one of four people taken into custody on drug charges during an investigation of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's suspected fatal heroin overdose had the actor's cellphone number, two law enforcement officials said Wednesday. Investigators zeroed in on the four after a tipster, responding to publicity about Hoffman's death, told police he had seen Hoffman at the lower Manhattan apartment building where they were arrested on Tuesday and he believed that's where Hoffman got the heroin, the officials said. After obtaining search warrants for two apartments in the building, police found about 350 packets of heroin in one of them, the officials said. They also learned from phone records one of the suspects had Hoffman's number, strengthening the theory they might have supplied him with drugs, the officials said. Some of the packets found in Hoffman's apartment were variously stamped with the ace of hearts and others with the ace of spades. Those found in the building where the arrests occurred had different brand names, including Black List and Panda, the officials said. The officials weren't authorized to speak about evidence in the ongoing investigation of the death and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Police were still waiting for a cause of death for the Oscar- winning actor from the medical examiner's office, which said on Wednesday more tests were needed. There was no timetable for Hoffman's autopsy to be finished, said medical examiner's office spokeswoman Julie Bolcer, who declined to discuss the pending tests. Hoffman, 46, was found dead Sunday with a needle in his arm, and tests found heroin in samples from at least 50 packets in his apartment in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, law enforcement officials have said. The four suspects face charges of possession of a controlled substance. Two also face charges of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. Courts have found that under state law drug dealers can't be held liable for customers' deaths. A 1972 state appellate division case found a dealer can't be found guilty of manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide for selling heroin and syringes to a customer who later dies because, the court ruled, legislation enhancing punishment for drug crimes didn't redefine homicide to include the sale of an illicit drug that results in death. " It's not just enough that you know, if you will, theoretically or academically, that heroin could kill," said James Cohen, a Fordham University School of Law professor who runs a clinic that represents federal criminal defendants. Former police detective Scott Prendergast, who worked on the investigation into the 1996 heroin overdose death of Jonathan Melvoin, a keyboard player with the band Smashing Pumpkins, said it's not uncommon for investigators to track down dealers following suspected overdose deaths, especially when the drugs are stamped with telling names. Investigators have determined the Capote star made six ATM transactions for a total of $ 1,200 inside a supermarket near his home the day before his death, law enforcement officials have said. Investigators are examining a computer, two iPads, recovered syringes, a charred spoon and various prescription medications, including a blood pressure drug and a muscle relaxant, found at the scene. A private funeral for relatives and close friends of Hoffman is set for Friday, and a larger memorial service will be held later this month, his publicist Karen Samfilippo said. On Wednesday night, Broadway theatres dimmed their lights in memory of the Tony Award- nominated actor, and members of the theatre community held a candlelight vigil for him. - The Associated Press Hoffman's cell number found in suspect's phone Four arrested as police probe link between actor's death, drugs By Jake Pearson and Tom Hays VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis came under new pressure Wednesday to punish bishops who covered up for pedophile priests when a UN human rights panel accused the Vatican of systematically protecting its reputation instead of looking out for the safety of children. In a scathing report that thrilled victims and stunned the Vatican, the United Nations committee said the Holy See maintained a " code of silence" that enabled priests to sexually abuse tens of thousands of children worldwide over decades with impunity. Among other things, the panel called on the Vatican to immediately remove all priests known or suspected to be child molesters, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the abuse cases over to law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution. The committee largely brushed aside the Vatican's claims it has already instituted new safeguards, and it accused the Roman Catholic Church of still harbouring criminals. " The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators," the panel said. The stinging language surprised the Vatican and put it in damage- control mode, with officials strongly defending the church and accusing the committee of allowing itself to be swayed by progay ideologues. The Vatican, which defended itself at a UN committee hearing last month, said the panel ignored the measures the Holy See has already taken to protect children. " I'm tempted to say that the text was probably written ahead of time," said the Vatican's UN ambassador, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi. Nevertheless, the report puts pressure on Francis to take decisive action after a year in which he has largely let the abuse portfolio fall by the wayside as he tackled other pressing issues, such as reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The Vatican announced in December that the new pope would create a commission to study how to prevent abuse and help victims, but no firm details about its makeup or scope have been released since. And critically, the Vatican has yet to sanction any bishop for having covered up for an abusive priest, even though more than a decade has passed since the scandal exploded in the U. S. and countless law enforcement investigations around the world made clear the role bishops played. - The Associated Press Pope pressured to crack down on coverup of pedophile priests WASHINGTON - North Korea has taken the initial steps toward fielding a road- mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that could be capable of hitting parts of the United States, say U. S. intelligence agencies. The KN- 08 has been been displayed twice in parades, and " we assess that North Korea has already taken initial steps towards fielding this system, although it remains untested," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, said in his latest annual unclassified Worldwide Threat assessment. North Korea's missile development, along with concern about Iranian weapons programs, is the principle rationale for the $ 34- billion U. S. ground based- missile defense program managed by Boeing, which hasn't had a successful interception test since December 2008. The Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in its latest public report last year the missile, also known as the Hwasong- 13, is estimated to have a maximum range of at least 5,500 kilometers, enough to reach Alaska but not the Pacific Northwest. An analyst who follows North Korean missile developments said he was skeptical of Clapper's claim and whether it has any real- world significance. " The most important thing to know about this system is that it has never flown," said Greg Thielmann, senior fellow at the Washington- based Arms Control Association and a former State Department official in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. " It doesn't give us any hard evidence that the North Koreans are any closer to an operational road- mobile ICBM." Thielmann said, assuming Clapper's statement was " carefully and honestly formulated, one would have to assume that" intelligence agencies have " observed North Korea conducting large rocket- engine tests, road- mobile missile deployment operational training" and ground support equipment. The most definitive step toward fielding a missile " is conducting flight tests," he said. " Whether or not North Korea has a road- mobile ICBM that can fly the distance is independent of whether or nor it has been able to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to fit and operate reliably on top of it," Thielmann said. " The technical challenges are separate and distinct." - Bloomberg News N. Korea a step closer to hitting U. S. with nuke? By Tony Capaccio KATHY WILLENS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of New York's theatre community hold a vigil Wednesday night to honour Philip Seymour Hoffman. Philip Seymour Hoffman RUSSIA said Wednesday it opposes a new UN Security Council resolution on the humanitarian plight in Syria, an announcement likely to torpedo a Western and Arab- backed draft that would pressure the government and opposition to allow desperately needed aid into the country. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told a news briefing " hard, pragmatic and purposeful work is necessary" to resolve specific humanitarian issues - not a council resolution which will almost certainly aim " to politicize the problem." Council diplomats said they expect to circulate a draft humanitarian resolution this week, following the failure of peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition to achieve any concrete results, especially on possible humanitarian aid convoys to besieged parts of the city of Homs. " We are against moving to a resolution now in the Security Council," Churkin told reporters at Russia's UN Mission. " We believe that it's a wrong move. It's not a good time to have any resolution discussed in the Security Council." Russia and China, which support the Syrian government, have vetoed three previous Western- backed resolutions that would have pressured President Bashar Assad to end the violence. The deeply divided council did come together in October to approve a weaker presidential statement appealing for immediate access to all areas of the country to deliver aid to millions of civilians. But Churkin made clear Wednesday Moscow is not prepared to go further, saying what is needed is for both sides - and countries with influence on them - to address and resolve specific humanitarian situations. He said the latest information he saw on Tuesday was an agreement on who would be allowed to leave Homs, and when and how humanitarian assistance would be supplied to the city, " is about to happen." Churkin called the first meeting between the government and opposition in Geneva " a good start of talks" after three years of bloody civil war that has killed more than 130,000 people, according to activists. The talks are supposed to focus on implementing a plan adopted in Geneva in June 2012 calling for the establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria vested with full executive powers. But the Syrian government has rejected a transitional government and has pressed for the talks to focus on the terrorist threat in the country. Churkin said terrorists " are to a large extent behind this tragic humanitarian situation" and fighting terrorism " should be one of the priorities in the discussions in Geneva." - The Associated Press Russia blocking UN bid to force Syria on aid By Edith M. Lederer A_ 11_ Feb- 06- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A9 2/ 5/ 14 9: 59: 11 PM ;