Sask. motorists shortchanged at pumps: study

REGINA -- A long-term study suggests Saskatchewan motorists were more likely to be shortchanged at the fuel pumps than most other Canadians, but those gas pains are easing, according to the latest figures.

  A Canwest News Service investigation launched by the Ottawa Citizen shows 10.6 per cent of gas pumps in this province tested by federal inspectors over an 81/2-year period ending last summer weren't dispensing as much gas as the pump indicated.

  At that rate, Saskatchewan was double the national average for errors against the customer, giving it a dubious second-place ranking among the provinces. Only Nova Scotia was higher at 11 per cent.

  At the same time, only 2.06 per cent of the pump failures, as captured by inspectors with Measurement Canada, went against the retailers. The federal agency, which tests and certifies pumps before they are put into service and regularly afterwards, bases its inspections on standards set out in the Weights and Measures Act.

  Asked this week for an explanation of Saskatchewan's poor showing, Measurement Canada issued a written statement indicating the province is falling in line with the rest of Canada. Last year, four per cent of the 775 pumps inspected were shorting the consumer.            Continued on A3/Shortchanged

Arson destroys health clinic

SASKATOON  --  Firefighters from Saskatoon and Corman Park responded early Tuesday morning to a blaze at Persephone Wellness Center, just east of the city.

  The fire was brought quickly under control, but not before extensive damage was done to the clinic and a private residence that stood on the same property.

  According to Firefighters and RCMP, the fire was caused by arson.  Large quantities of accelerant, currently believe to be gasoline, were spread around the property to increase the damage caused by the fire.

  Damage is estimated at $300,000-$450,000, including some specialized medical equipment.  Firefighter response time was delayed due to the distance of the site from the city.

  No one was injured in the blaze.

  The RCMP say the matter is currently under investigation, and have no active suspects.

  Persephone Wellness Center was opened by Dr. Nancy Green in 2006, and specialized in alternative and spiritual medicine.

   It is not known when, or if, Persephone Wellness Center will reopen.

Accused murderer’s DNA found in underwear

SASKATOON -- A blue pair of men's underwear, discovered near the slain body of 92-year-old Anna Hein in her Riversdale home, contained DNA belonging to her accused killer, court heard Friday.

  RCMP forensic biologist Norma Szakacs testified DNA found in the underwear matches a sample taken from Larry Sheldon McLeod of Prince Albert, who is aboriginal.

  The odds the same DNA profile belongs to someone else in Saskatchewan's First Nation population is one in 140 billion, said Szakacs.

  McLeod, 35, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, with an included offence of sexual assault.

  On July 25, 1999, Hein was found lying on her back, her flowered house-dress pulled up to her waist and stained with blood, in her tiny bungalow on Avenue G South where she lived alone.

  The elderly woman's throat had been slit and she had been stabbed twice in the chest.

  Also near her body, police found her false teeth, her walker and a bloody kitchen knife.

  Officers had to slog though a wet crime scene, because the killer left on water taps in the kitchen and bathroom and tore the float out from the toilet tank so it would overflow.

After police first examined the house, they returned to do a last check for evidence and found the men's underwear underneath a green garbage bag near Hein's body.

  One officer described it as a "eureka moment." It was the only item in the house that belonged to a man - likely the killer.

  Sgt. Phil Farion with the city police historical case unit said outside court that he hopes Hein's family can finally find closure when the trial is over.

  It took police seven years to make an arrest in the case. A break finally came in 2006, when McLeod's DNA was added to the national databank.

  That same year, McLeod was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in Prince Albert. In addition to his nine-month conditional sentence, he was ordered to provide a DNA sample.

  Farion said Hein's killing was especially tragic, considering her age and the disturbing details of how she died.

  "No one's grandma deserves to pass away in that type of fashion," Farion. "It's very sad."

No charges to be laid in deadly Nipawin explosion: RCMP

NIPAWIN -- The RCMP will not be laying criminal charges in the explosion that rocked Nipawin last month, killing two people.

  "Our primary concern is when we're investigating the cause (of a fire), did someone set it? Was there criminal intent to kill these people? In this case, those elements weren't there to support a charge," said RCMP Sgt. Carole Raymond.

  On April 18 at around 11 a.m., a construction accident in Nipawin's downtown caused a natural gas leak and subsequent fire and explosion, says J.D. Lloyd, an explosion and fire investigator with the provincial office of the fire commissioner.

  "A gas service line was pulled free of a gas main after being caught by a backhoe. Gas leaked out of the main into the ground and migrated through the ground into the basement of the meat shop that was eventually the centre of the explosion. Over a period of time, enough gas built up in there to create a very energetic explosion, which we believe was ignited by the operation of a compressor unit that was servicing one of the refrigerated display cases in the meat shop," said Lloyd, who has concluded his investigation.

  Jack Boxall and his son Brent Boxall were hauling gravel from a lot where a building had been demolished when they were killed by the explosion.

Three buildings were destroyed and several other businesses were damaged.

  The town of 5,100 people, about 120 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is returning to normal, says Nipawin's Mayor Glen Day.

  "I was just downtown and I noticed that more and more, the broken windows are being replaced. The businesses that had boards over their windows are getting them off. It takes a few weeks to get that amount of glass in place, but it's happening," he said in an interview Thursday.

  The fire investigator's report, which details what happened and how, does not include recommendations for preventing a similar incident. That will come from a final report being prepared by the Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Labour Ministry.