TEN years ago, this week, a North-East man was convicted in the US of stabbing a woman to death and decapitating her drug dealing boyfriend - but he was to be spared the death penalty.
Neil Revill, originally from Consett, in County Durham, faced spending the rest of his life behind bars after being found guilty in Los Angeles of one count of first degree murder over the death of Kimberly Crayton - the niece of singer Al Jarreau - and one count of second degree murder over the killing of Arthur Davodian.
The then 38-year-old was also found guilty of two charges of transporting controlled substances.
One of Revill's attorneys, Michael M Crain, told The Northern Echo he would be filing a motion for a new trial and, if that failed, he would be taking the case to the US Court of Appeal.
Even by Los Angeles' standards, the double killing, which happened on October 11, 2001, was exceptionally brutal.
Mr Davodian, 22, was stabbed 17 times before his head was severed, and Miss Crayton, 20, who suffered terrible wounds on her hands and arms, had locked herself in their bedroom while her lover died.
But the killer smashed down the door, and she was stabbed 19 times.
Revill protested his innocence since his arrest in November 2001, but in 2011 faced life in prison without the possibility of parole due to evidence findings.
Meanwhile, the threatened sale of the Zurbaran paintings proved the need to curb the "unaccountable" power of the Church Commissioners, the Government was told.
The commissioners were accused of a "form of money laundering", as the peers demanded the body be made properly answerable to Parliament.
In an extraordinary attack, Lord Howarth, a former Labour Arts Minister, described the commissioners as a "bunch of simoniacs" - a term, dating back to the Middle Ages, condemning profit-making out of sacred items.
The criticisms came as the Lords debated an amendment to rein in the commissioners by including them within the Public Bodies Bill.
The move would have allowed the Government to change the constitution of the body that manages the historic property assets of the Church of England.
The amendment was rejected on the grounds that it was outside the Bill's scope and because the Government does not legislate on the internal affairs of the Church without its consent.
Nevertheless, it revealed how the storm of protest over the sale of the Zurbarans, which have hung in Auckland Castle for 260 years, has reached the House of Lords.
David Cameron suggested an export ban could be imposed to prevent the Zurbarans leaving the country.
A spokesman for the Church Commissioners said it was a group with "clear accountabilities and high professional standards", pointing out that its report and accounts were laid before Parliament and the General Synod.
Meanwhile, Japanese engineers were fighting to contain a growing nuclear crisis at an earthquake-hit power station in the north of the country.
There had been three explosions and two fires at the Fukushima plant since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake.
Radiation reached harmful levels, leading Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to urge 140,000 people living near the plant to seal themselves indoors and fears grew of the worldwide economic impact of the disaster.
At the time, 3,300 people were confirmed dead in the earthquake, although the death toll was expected to top 10,000, as tens of thousands of people were still missing, and there were fears some Britons were among the dead.
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