National roundup

Arizona woman convicted of murder

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — An Arizona woman has been convicted in the fatal stabbing of her husband, whose body was dumped at a New Mexico airport by her North Carolina lover.

A Yavapai County Superior Court jury convicted Laura Stelmasek of Prescott on Friday in the 2011 killing of Craig Stelmasek at the couple’s home, The Daily Courier (http://goo.gl/18Ozv4) newspaper in Prescott reported.

Chief Deputy County Attorney Dennis McGrane said the jury returned its guilty verdicts after about an hour of deliberations.

Prosecutors said Laura Stelmasek, 48, conspired with 50-year-old Marzet Farris III, who was convicted in February.

Farris left the victim’s body wrapped in a blanket in a van at the Albuquerque airport before he caught a flight to North Carolina. Then he and Laura Stelmasek reunited at his home in the Raleigh area.

Both await sentencing on convictions for murder and other crimes.

Defense attorney Craig Williams said there was no evidence that Laura Stelmasek conspired with Farris or helped him dispose of the body. There also was no evidence of premeditation, Williams said.

However, Deputy County Attorney Susan Eazer cited numerous texts and emails between Laura Stelmasek and Farris, some of which included discussions of killing her husband.

There was overwhelming evidence that Laura Stelmasek “from almost day one, solicited — practically begged” Farris to kill her husband, Eazer said. “She assisted him in killing her husband.”

Texas mom abandons child outside salon

GARLAND, Texas — Dallas police say a woman was arrested after telling her 7-year-old daughter to hide in a trash bin outside a spa and then leaving her. The girl was found nearby 10 hours later.

Alicia Carroll of Garland faces a charge of abandoning and endangering a child. The 28-year-old remained in Dallas County Jail Monday on $25,000 bond. A person listed as her attorney did not immediately return a call.

Police say Carroll called police Sunday morning saying the person she left her daughter with on Saturday night would not return the child. But according to police documents, the girl said her mother told her to hide in the trash bin after the two exited the spa.

Officers found the girl Sunday after being flagged down by citizens who saw her.