Murderer: Robert Amos, who spent 20 years in prison for the 1981 strangulation murder of a 69-year-old music teacher in Kansas City, has threatened to kill a police officer if Colorado does not give him a death sentence for the recent murder of a grad student, according to this story by David Montero in the Rocky Mountain News. Amos faces trial and sentencing for the kidnap and strangling of 24 year-old Alissa Morimoto on June 26.

Prisons: California is not the only state with a serious prison overcrowding problem as evidenced by this Associated Press story which reports on Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry's demand that the state legislature stop dragging its feet on funding for new beds. A story by Nina Shapiro in the Seattle Weekly reports that a shortage of prison guards has left a new Washington state prison empty while others are overcrowded.