Destruction of evidence suspected in teen's case

Investigators believe a 14-year-old middle school student might have tried to erase evidence off his computer the morning he was accused of slitting a classmate's throat at Southwood Middle School, according to 200 pages of pretrial evidence released Monday.

According to a search warrant, Michael Hernandez ran a program called ''Evidence Eliminator'' before leaving for school on Feb. 3, the day 14-year-old Jaime Gough was found stabbed to death in a second-floor bathroom.

It's unclear from the documents whether Hernandez successfully wiped his hard drive clean, but sources close to the investigation have said that information regarding gory websites and photographs depicting decapitations and other horrific scenes were found on the computer.

The documents released Monday mainly consisted of police reports from the day of Gough's killing.

MIAMI

DOUGHNUT SHOP HOST FOR RADIO FUNDRAISER

Coffee for a cause: WLRN Public Radio 91.3 FM and a Morningside Dunkin' Donuts have joined forces to host Joe-n-Go, a one-day fundraising event to increase its membership base.

Commuters driving through Dunkin' Donuts, 5130 Biscayne Blvd., between 7 and 10:30 this morning can make a pledge of $91.30 (that amounts to 25 cents a day) for a cup of coffee and a copy of The Herald. Participants will also receive a thermos-style traveler mug with the WLRN logo.

The station's Morning Edition will broadcast live from the store as well, where a field reporter will interview customers and volunteers.

HAULOVER PARK

FEDS TO PICK UP TAB FOR PICNIC FACILITIES

The U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service are awarding $4.1 million to expand and improve 24 parks throughout the state.

Among them: Haulover Park, which will be receiving new picnic facilities and exercise trails. Other parks that expect aid include White View/Pine Lakes Park in Palm Coast, Bronson Park in Kissimmee and Homeplace Park in Royal Palm Beach.

For more information, visit www.floridadep.org.

MIAMI

BRITISH MERCENARY GETS 33 MONTHS

David Tomkins, a self-styled British mercenary, was sentenced to 33 months in prison last week for trying to buy an airplane that he wanted to use to kill Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar more than a decade ago.

Tomkins fled the United States in late 1991 because he was suspicious that the plane sale was a sting.

He was caught in August 2003 when he returned for U.S. Army chemical weapons training that he needed to qualify for a security job at Iraqi airports.

In June, Tomkins, 63, admitted his guilt to U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan, saying he violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act in the undercover sting.

He confessed to trying to buy a Cessna A-37B Dragonfly for $270,000 without a required federal license for an armed raid on Escobar.

The one-time Medellín cocaine kingpin was killed in December 1993 by Colombian security forces in a joint operation with the American government.

BROWARD COUNTY

NEW CHARGE FILED AGAINST TWO MUSLIMS

Two Muslim men who met in the mid-1990s while living in Broward County were indicted last week on a new charge that they participated in a murder and kidnapping conspiracy as part of a holy war overseas.

The count, added to a superseding indictment in Miami federal court, carries a potential life sentence.

Adham Amin Hassoun, a Palestinian from Sunrise, was previously accused of conspiring to recruit and finance others for Jihad between 1994 and 2002.

Also charged Thursday was Mohamed Hesham Youssef, an alleged recruit previously named in the indictment. He is being held in Egypt in an unrelated terrorism case.

According to the indictment, Hassoun recruited and raised tens of thousands of dollars to send Youssef and others to Somalia, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Kosovo for training and fighting Jihad to spread extreme Islamic law.

The material-support conspiracy charge carries a maximum 15-year sentence.

The indictment says Hassoun's recruits included four unindicted co-conspirators. The four are not named, but one of them is Jose Padilla, who is suspected of planning a ''dirty bomb,'' according to federal law enforcement sources.

The government has held Padilla for more than two years as an enemy combatant without charges. A U.S. citizen, he is challenging his incarceration.

The FBI arrested him in Chicago on May 8, 2002, after he returned from Pakistan. The feds held him as a material witness, suspecting he is part of a radioactive, or ''dirty,'' bomb plot.

MIAMI SHORES

BARRY RANKS FIRST IN CAMPUS DIVERSITY

Barry University, a Miami Shores Catholic school, is moving on up -- in diversity, rank and enrollment, that is.

The university was ranked first in campus diversity for a southern school, according to a report released by the 2005 U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges. Barry also ranked 48th in the ''Best Universities Master's'' category of the report, taking a seat among the top tier of southern schools. It was the only Catholic school in Florida to make the top tier, which consists of universities ranked one through 66.

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS

SUPERINTENDENT TO MEET PUBLIC

As he crosses the landmark of his first 100 days in office, new Miami-Dade Superintendent Rudy Crew will hold town hall meetings across the county in October and November.

Crew will kick off the meetings Tuesday at Barbara Goleman Senior High, 14100 NW 89th Ave. in Miami Lakes. All the meetings run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The others are:

• Oct. 26, Coral Park Senior High, 8865 SW 16th St.

• Nov. 3, Booker T. Washington Senior High, 1200 NW 6th Ave.

• Nov. 9, Michael Krop Senior High, 1410 NE 215th St.

• Nov. 23, Felix Varela Senior High, 15255 SW 96th St.

• Nov. 30, John Ferguson Senior High, 15900 SW 56th St.

For more information, call 305-995-4638.