rachael gandal

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - A woman who spent part of her high school years in Syracuse has been murdered in Las Vegas, and police are still searching for her killer.
Rachael Gandal was an aspiring actress and model who lived in Las Vegas with her 8-year-old daughter. Las Vegas police say Gandal was shot to death Thursday night.

Her body was found inside a car in the parking lot of a grocery store. Police say a tall man in dark clothes was seen speeding away from the scene in a black and silver car.

According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, Gandal was a 1997 graduate of Henninger High School.

Copyright 2007 Clear Channel Broadcasting. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributedman and a woman from Utica are being accused of shoplifting 21 items from an Old Navy store Sunday in New Hartford.

Harry J. Donnelly, Jr., 33, of Blandina Street, and Candida D. Morton, 34, of Elizabeth Street, are facing charges of petit larceny, New Hartford police say, in connection with the theft of 21 items valued at $185.

Store employees told police they saw the two removing the wrapping and packaging from store items and stuffing them into a bag. The two then allegedly walked out of the store without trying to pay for the goods, police say.

Police arrested Donnelly in the parking lot. Police found Morton nearby along Commercial Drive. They are scheduled to appear in New Hartford Court on Jan. 15, police say.

21 articles of stolen merchandise valued
TRENTON, N.J. -- The push to make New Jersey the first state to abolish the death sentence since 1976 moves forward today with a Senate vote on the measure, which would spare the life of a sex offender whose crimes sparked Megan's Law.

With the support of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Democratic governor, the bill is expected to be signed into law within a month. The measure would replace the death sentence with life without parole, and make the state the first to outlaw capital punishment since the Supreme Court reinstated it.

New Jersey has eight men on death row and hasn't executed anyone since 1963.

Among the death row inmates who would be spared is Jesse Timmendequas, a sex offender convicted of murdering 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994. That case sparked Megan's Law, which requires law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living in their communities.

Megan's parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, have sent a letter to legislators urging them to retain the death penalty