in brief

Controversial roundup

Wild horse advocates criticize death toll

Activists are questioning the rising death toll from a controversial government roundup of wild horses from the range north of Reno.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said 77 wild horses involved in the Calico Mountains Complex roundup have died so far, 70 at a Fallon facility where they were taken and the rest at the roundup site.

That's nearly double the 39 horses that had died when the roundup of 1,922 horses concluded on Feb. 5.

Leaders of the horse advocacy group Cloud Foundation based in Colorado Springs, Colo., are pressing the government for measures to deal with the situation.

Group spokeswoman Makendra Silverman questioned whether the deaths may be the result of having a roundup in the winter, when wild animals have lower reserves of fat.

Worley attributed the deaths mostly to the poor body condition of mares that were sent to Fallon.

california arrest

Man held in slayings
reported in Detroit

U.S. marshals using information from Detroit police have arrested in California a man wanted in a double slaying reported by the 8-year-old daughter of one of the victims.

Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans says Derrick Smith, 42, was arrested Friday afternoon in Gardena, Calif.

Smith was wanted on two counts of murder in the March 1 shooting deaths of 26-year-old Monica Botello and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Purcell Carson, in Carson's Detroit home.

Botello's daughter pleaded for help in a call to a 911 dispatcher but didn't know the address.

Police said Saturday they didn't know whether Smith had a lawyer .