CNN exclusive: Secret files reveal NIU killer’s past

A former student who killed five people at Northern Illinois University last Valentine’s Day had been drummed out of the Army for hiding his psychiatric history and expressed admiration for famous murderers, CNN has learned. Steven Kazmierczak was known as “strange Steve” to roommates, studied the Virginia Tech and Columbine massacres and idolized the sadistic killer in the “Saw” horror films, according to documents from the year-long investigation into the NIU killings. The still-unreleased police file on the shootings, which also left 18 students wounded, shows that 27-year-old Kazmierczak had been hospitalized several times as a teenager for psychiatric issues and had a history of suicide attempts

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Plane Crashes into House in Suburban Buffalo, 50 Dead

A Continental commuter plane coming in for a landing nose-dived into a house in suburban Buffalo, sparking a fiery explosion that killed all 49 people aboard and a person in the home. It was the nation’s first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in 2 1/2 years. Witnesses heard the twin turboprop aircraft sputtering before it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m

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Turboprop crash plane one of the safest

The turboprop plane that crashed in New York state, killing all 48 people on board and one on the ground, was one of the safest and most sophisticated aircraft of its type, according to an aviation industry expert. The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was less than one year old and had flown for only about 1,500 hours, said Kieran Daly, of the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence. The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was operated by Colgan Air between Newark Liberty International Airport and Buffalo.

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Virgin Atlantic passenger’s "culinary journey of hell"

A six-page rant to Virgin Atlantic’s Sir Richard Branson about a woeful in-flight meal attracted so much attention on the Internet that it was rumored to be a clever marketing stunt. The author was reported to be Oliver Beale, a 29 year old art director who works at a London advertising agency. Both he and Virgin have insisted the letter, described as possibly “the world’s best passenger complaint,” is authentic

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49 die after plane crashes into house in suburban Buffalo

A Continental Airlines plane crashed in suburban Buffalo, New York, late Thursday, killing 49 people. There were 44 passengers and four crew members killed on board and one on the ground, according to authorities. Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, was en route from Newark, New Jersey, when it went down, said Bill Peat with New York State Emergency Management in Albany.

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Russian, U.S. satellites collide in space

Two satellites, one Russian and one American, have collided some 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Siberia, the Russian and U.S. space agencies, said Thursday. The collision on Tuesday produced two large debris clouds, NASA said

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